WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – Two murder defendants out of Trumbull County will stay incarcerated after rulings Monday by the 11th District Court of Appeals.
Patrick Heltzel, 31, who is housed in Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon, was denied an appeal asking for conditional release, according to the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office.
In August 2023, two psychiatrists recommended conditional release for Heltzel, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 2016 stabbing death of 71-year-old Milton A. Grumbling III at his Kincaid East Road home in Warren.
A representative of the victim’s family said Heltzel should stay in prison.
Judge Logan decided in October 2023 that granting a full, conditional release to Heltzel would “demean the seriousness” of the brutal crime.
Heltzel’s attorney appealed that decision saying that his client’s 14th Amendment rights were violated. However, the 11th District Court upheld Judge Andrew Logan’s decision, saying that the wording of Logan’s decision may have been framed around a typical criminal conviction and not a guilty by insanity conviction, but it did not change the fact that there was concern about Heltzel’s history in denying his release.
In another denial, the 11th District Court rejected an appeal by Alan Francis, a man convicted in the November 2005 robbery and killing of John Crocker, 76, at Crocker’s Weatherfield home.
The appeal was based on Francis’ assertion that no one explained to him the effect of his no-contest pleas and asked that his conviction be vacated.
In his decision to deny the appeal, Judge Lynch wrote, “Contrary to Francis’ position, the failure to provide the mandatory advisements of Criminal Rule 11 does not render the resulting judgment of conviction void.”
Francis will continue to serve his 40 years to life sentence at year prison sentence at Lake Erie Correctional Institution. He will be up for parole in November 2045.
