Accused Murderer Pleads Guilty to Avoid Death Penalty

Ross County Courthouse


A man accused of a July 4th, 2017 murder on Brown's Chapel Road has pleaded guilty in an effort to avoid the death penalty.


33-year-old Jeffrey R. Holsinger made the plea on 11 counts Monday, including the fatal shooting of 79-year-old Paul Robertson. He is already serving a 25-year-to-life sentence for the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Steven Mottie Junior of Greenfield, which was the beginning of a crime spree that fateful July 4th. That guilty plea of murder and aggravated robbery was made in Highland County Common Pleas Court.


His murder spree continued into Ross County, where he fatally shot Robertson and assaulted a woman who escaped the Brown's Chapel residence and hid in some woods before being helped by a passing motorist.


Ross County Prosecutor Matt Schmidt says the agreement to drop the death penalty in favor of a life sentence without chance for parole, met with approval of the Robertson family, knowing that a death penalty might take decades to carryout and still guarantees that Holsinger will never be free to harm anyone else.


Sentencing is scheduled for 3pm December 10th before Ross County Common Pleas Judge Mike Ater.


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