After responding to a report of vandalism Friday at a Glouster man’s home, authorities later uncovered a dead body Monday and identified it Tuesday as the man’s father.
Paul J. Roberts was arrested Friday on one charge of vandalism, a fifth-degree felony, but Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said in a text message to The Post, “depending on the investigation, it could be death penalty eligible.”
The father, Paul E. Roberts, 63, was last seen more than two weeks ago and was found Monday in a well underneath the back porch of his son’s residence at 68 Locust St.
The Glouster Police Department investigated with a search warrant with assistance from Blackburn’s office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Identification, the Athens Police Department, the Athens Fire Department and the Ohio University Police Department.
The coroner’s preliminary ruling of the cause of death is blunt force trauma, according to a news release from Blackburn, who, besides clarifying an inquiry Tuesday evening about the option of implementing the death penalty, declined to comment further.
Roberts is currently incarcerated in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, detained at a bond of $100,000.
He is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 4 for the vandalism charge.
He’ll also be sentenced then on other charges including theft, possession of drugs, persistent disorderly conduct, failure to comply with order or signal of police, forgery, grand theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of identity fraud, according to his booking information from the jail.
With the exception of the grand theft charge, which is a felony of the fourth-degree, all charges against the younger Roberts are of the fifth-degree. He will also be required to pay restitution and court costs.
Though it is unclear whether the incident is related to Paul J. Robert’s theft of a vehicle charge, the father’s car has been “improperly transported from Sept. 23 to Oct. 19,” according to the release from Blackburn. Authorities believed the vehicle to be near Columbus.
Paul J. Roberts’ girlfriend, Rhonda Degarmore, is currently in custody on a probation violation; however, it is unclear if she is involved with the incident.
In the release, Blackburn said although the case is still under investigation, it will be presented to a grand jury Oct. 28.
kf398711@ohiou.edu
@KellyPFisher
