WAUSEON — With the pronouncement of 17 guilty verdicts Tuesday, family members of a Metamora woman who was snatched from her bicycle and asphyxiated by James Worley, cried, and hugged, and exhaled.
Worley, 58, showed no reaction, even as Fulton County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Robinson said the jury had found him guilty on specifications that could land him on death row for the July, 2016, aggravated murder of Sierah Joughin, 20.
WATCH: Joughin’s uncle reads a statement after jury finds Worley guilty
The jury of eight women and four men deliberated less than six hours Tuesday before announcing they had reached unanimous verdicts just after 3 p.m.
The relief to Ms. Joughin's many friends and relatives was apparent as they embraced each other and the law enforcement officers who worked the case from the time the University of Toledo student disappeared while riding her bicycle home July 19.
“Needless to say this has been a long four weeks,” Ms. Joughin's uncle, Howard Ice, said on behalf of the family afterward. “Having to sit through the detailed testimony, the piles of evidence, and the learning of what this killer and past violent offender — which is really important to us, past violent offender — did to our beautiful Sierah was gut-wrenching.”
Ms. Joughin's family has advocated for a new state law to create a violent offender registry. Worley, of rural Delta, was convicted in 1990 for abducting a bicyclist in rural Lucas County.
Standing with Ms. Joughin's parents, Tom Joughin and Sheila Vaculik, aunt Tara Ice, and boyfriend Josh Kolasinski, Mr. Ice said the family had hoped for justice and received it.
“I want to express to you how pleased we are that justice was served today, and this murderer was found guilty on all counts,” Mr. Ice said.
DAY 1: Initial interviews with Worley played on first day of murder trial | DAY 2: BCI agent testifies during 2nd day of Worley murder trial I DAY 3: Testimony focuses on pornography searches I DAY 4: Financials, injuries focus of proceedings | DAY 5: James Worley trial centers on DNA, phone data | DAY 6: James Worley trial enters second week | DAY 7: Defense rests in Worley case | DAY 8: Closing arguments in James Worley murder trial end
In addition to two counts of aggravated murder, Worley was convicted of two counts each of murder, abduction, felonious assault, and having weapons under disability; four counts of kidnapping, and one count each of possession of criminal tools, gross abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.
Because Worley was found guilty of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications, the jury will return at 9 a.m. Monday for the sentencing phase, where defense attorneys will call witnesses to provide mitigating evidence, or reasons why the defendant should not receive a death sentence. The prosecution will call witnesses to testify to the aggravating circumstances of the case.
The jury will deliberate again to decide whether to sentence Worley to the death penalty or life in prison.
During the first phase of the trial, prosecutors laid out their case to the jury with DNA and cell phone location evidence that placed Worley and Ms. Joughin at the same locations on the evening she disappeared.
Worley, they told jurors, ambushed Ms. Joughin as she rode her bike. He struck her on the head, restrained her, and took her to his barn on County Road 6. She was found bound and buried in a cornfield along County Road 7.
Among the items with both of their DNA: the motorcycle helmet Worley said he had lost that was covered in Ms. Joughin's blood, and a rubber glove found near where she was buried.
In Fulton County Prosecutor Scott Haselman’s closing arguments, he told jurors that Worley “had to” kill Ms. Joughin given the amount of evidence, and implored them to find him guilty on all counts. Defense attorney Merle Dech contended that key items did not contain Worley’s DNA, which created reasonable doubt of his guilt.
Both Mr. Haselman and Worley's three-man defense team declined to comment after the verdict.
“It's better policy not to discuss it until we are finished,” lead defense attorney Mark Berling said.
Sheriff's deputies and police officers from area departments were stationed throughout the courtroom, which was largely silent while Judge Robinson read each verdict then asked jurors to raise their right hand if that was indeed their verdict.
On the two counts of aggravated murder and accompanying capital specifications, the judge asked each juror if that was their verdict. Each responded, “Yes, sir.”
Mr. Ice thanked the prosecutor's office and sheriff's department for their hard work.
Fulton County Sheriff Roy Miller, who hugged and thanked his deputies afterward, declined to comment.
Contact Jennifer Feehan at jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.
First Published March 27, 2018, 8:28 p.m.
