Several dozen Athens locals and others from neighboring counties sat in the Southeast Ohio History Center, located on 24 W. State St., at noon Thursday, hanging on every word Robert Toy, attorney at law, had to share.
“It is fall in 1962,” Toy said. “What a lovely time of year in Athens, Ohio. The beautiful weather, the leaves are changing and homecoming is coming up. But there’s one thing that disturbed homecoming. I have titled this, ‘Murder Most Foul: A hunt for the killer professor.’”
Thursday marked the history center’s first Lyceum Lunch of the year, an ongoing series inviting speakers from the area to share their knowledge on a given topic. The series is open to the public and free of charge.
Lee Sites, the history center’s curator of collections and internship coordinator, said Tom O’Grady, director of development and outreach director emeritus, initiated the series.
“He knows a lot of people,” Sites said. “You don’t know a lot of people, regulars in Athens, without knowing somebody who knows Tom. He knows a lot of … their different expertise and what they’re knowledgeable about.”
Sites said the history center is trying to gravitate students toward events like the Lyceum Lunches.
“I think knowing where you’re at is more important than people say,” Sites said. “I think a lot of people, they’re here … and (it is important) to respect what’s happening, what has happened or is currently happening in the region where you’re studying.”
Thursday’s discussion might not have drawn a crowd of OU students, but locals and residents filed into the seats eager for Toy’s discussion. According to the Toy Law Office, located on 11 E. Washington St., Toy tried on more than 200 jury trials, including over 20 murder trials, several of which involved the death penalty, in his career.
Toy is also an active local, as he is a member of the Athens Kiwanis Club, the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and is a board member of the county’s historical society.
Due to his experience and local involvement, Toy had attendees gasping, laughing and shocked as he retold the case of Gene Stees, a former Ohio University education professor convicted of murdering his wife in 1962.
As Toy detailed in his retelling, Stees was in a “classic love triangle” starting in May 1962, resulting in “turmoil” between him and his wife, Helen.
According to Stees' side of the story, as told in his 1963 trial, on the day of the killing, Helen confessed she was pregnant; however, Stees claimed in court he had not had intercourse with her since their previous pregnancy that resulted in an abortion.
“(Helen said) she was not going to give the child up for adoption … and if (Stees) did not accept the child, he was never going to see his two other children again,” Toy said. “At that point, he says he didn’t remember what happened … he didn’t remember what had occurred.”
According to digital archives from OU libraries, the 31-year-old hit his wife with a crowbar, “stuffed” her body into a 55-gallon barrel and tossed the barrel into Dow Lake. The couple had two children together.
Stees confessed to his acts just days later to the former Athens County Sheriff, who called for a team of scuba divers to find the barrel. Stees received a guilty verdict of premeditated murder in February 1963 and was sentenced to life in prison.
During his incarceration at the former Ohio State Penitentiary in downtown Columbus, Toy said Stees made connections and worked his way up to “trustee status” in February 1970.
“One day, he walks out the door,” Toy said. “Nobody sees him … he’s gone from the prison.”
Toy said it was not until several hours later, on the same day of his escape, that people noticed Stees’ absence.
“He called himself … a homeless person, knew how to fend for himself,” Toy said. “He had about a six-hour head start.”
Nearly 60 years later, Stees is still considered to be on the loose. Toy said he contacted the U.S. Marshals Service, who stated they are “looking for him.”
Startled, yet intrigued, remarks emerged from the crowd as Toy said he is paying anyone who can find Stees, dead or alive, $1000.
The Lyceum Lunch was followed by lively conversations between attendees. Mariann Sears, mother of Jessica Cyders, the history center’s executive director, is a frequent attendee of the Lyceum Lunches.
Sears, who lives in The Plains, said Toy’s discussion was fascinating because of her previous experience as a licensed attorney and interest in crime stories.
“(Crime stories) are salacious,” Sears said. “People tend to live vicariously through other people’s issues.”
Sears said the history center strives to keep Southeast Ohio history alive by educating locals and residents in the area.
“Every history matters,” Sears said. “History here in Appalachia, where maybe it’s not as detail-oriented … it matters. You can visit history (here) and it is significant. It is a masterpiece of the community.”
