Posted on 04/11/2017 7:58:15 PM PDT by TaxPayer2000
An Ohio man accused of raping a 10-year-old girl and setting a fire that killed her and her grandparents jumped to his death from a fourth-floor courthouse balcony on Monday before he could face trial, reports say.
Robert Seman Jr., 48, was walking through the Mahoning County Courthouse with police in Youngstown after a pre-trial hearing when he quickly ran from the officers and jumped over a banister at around 9:30 a.m., WKBN reports.
“I saw a deputy at the railing, and I saw this white object falling to the ground,” a reporter at the scene, Joe Gorman, told WKBN. “I knew what it was, and I just screamed.”
Footage obtained by WLS-TV showed Seman Jr. wearing tan pants and a white shirt as he calmly walked alongside officers. Soon, he is shown running from the police and climbing over the banister.
Seman Jr. died just one day before jury selection was set to begin on his triple murder trial, the Associated Press reports. He was accused of raping 10-year-old Corinne Gump then setting the March 2015 fire that killed Gump and her grandparents, William, 63, and Judith Smith, 61, at their home.
The blaze occurred the day Seman Jr. was set the day the man’s rape trial was set to begin in Youngstown, the AP reports. Prosecutors said that burns were found on the man’s body at the time of his arrest.
Many were surprised at Seman Jr.’s act on Monday, with Sheriff Jerry Green saying that the man looked to be in “pretty good spirits.”
“He was talking about the future of his trial, and he just decided to jump.”
Lisa Cappitti, Gump’s stepmother, told the Youngstown Vindicator that the family doesn’t “know how to feel” as a result of Seman Jr.’s death.
“It’s sad,” she said. “There’s no justice at all.”
However, one of the Schmidt’s neighbors held a different sentiment.
“I hollered, Hallelujah!’ ” Jean McCammond told the publication. “Lucifer is digesting the weirdest, meanest soul that was ever on earth.”
Well, give them the option. Trial or rail, you choose.
Fine by me.
Justice served in a far more timely fashion than our overburdened courts would have done, for certain, but WHY IN HELL WAS HE NOT IN A JUMPSUIT AND CHAINS?!
Every single cop on duty from the most senior sheriff to the greenest deputy should be front of the police chief getting their asses chewed like a Doberman’s favorite toy for an inexcusable breach of security. This story would be a lot less funny if Lardo McKiddyDiddler had landed on someone instead of on the concrete.
He chose....wisely.
Was his nickname “Blue Duck”?
Seriously, it was a good thing.
Seman made a splat.
Mahoning County. Where I grew up many moons ago.
““There’s no justice at all”.
Say what?”
Well, in all fairness the prosecution didn’t get to push him off the balcony.
They got the blooper reel on youtube though, so there is that.
I’m still here. This guy was a POS. Always smirking jn court. Now the audacity of a go fund me page to pay for the funeral.
Hey, shouldn’t every courthouse have a balcony that drops down six or eight floors to a concrete pad with nearby fire hoses to wash up the mess. Let’s give these people the opportunity to simply jump, cause no more than a small contained mess, and save the taxpayer the money of trying them, convicting them, and executing them. Actually, this sounds like something that Monty Python would create a pretty good skit for.
afterall, we wouldn't want to prejudice the jury would we....
this is our lawyer class with their typical insanity....
It is possible he was making an escape attempt. Having been held isolated in a courthouse room, he might not have realized what floor he was on.
He transferred his case to a higher Court.
The real question is why this accused child rapist allowed out of jail so he could not only kill the star witness but the girl he raped and her grandmother.
If justice was involved he would have been in jail for rape and not on the street setting fires.
“”They need to go back to shackling these people on trial.
Nobody is fooled. This is not the DMV, they are not at Traffic Court over a lane change. They are on trial, because they are accused of serious crimes, deadly crimes. Having him stroll down the corridor in his office clothes has a high price. Chain their wrists, shackle their ankles, and attach a chain linked tether with a Sheriff or Marshall holding on tight.
People in that situation are like cornered rats. Some go without a struggle, other will chose this moment for fight, of flight. Similar to those Cows or Bulls that occasionally break away from the slaughterhouse. Difference, of course, being that those Cows or Bulls did not ruin some child’s life by abuse.””
You’re right. Instead of high-dive, he could have taken a hostage. Officers did not do their jobs.
“”I’m just glad that he saved the taxpayers a ton of money.
On the other hand, what if he was innocent.....
“”
Not likely innocent.
Yes, but that poor FLOOR!!! Hope Fatso didn’t crack any tiles!!!!
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