WAUSEON — After hearing emotional pleas from Sierah Joughin’s family and her convicted killer’s rambling claim of innocence, Fulton County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Robinson kept his comments brief after sentencing James D. Worley to death.
“If I thought there was a snowball’s chance in hell you were innocent, I would have given you life,” the judge said.
Wednesday’s sentencing closed one painful chapter in the nearly two years since the 20-year-old Metamora woman disappeared July 19, 2016, while riding her bike. Worley, 59, of rural Delta, was convicted in March of her kidnapping and aggravated murder. The jury then recommended he be put to death.
Ms. Joughin’s mother, Sheila Vaculik, made the last of several victim impact statements Wednesday and called her daughter “compassionate and vibrant.”
“This was a soul that embraced living and everything it had to offer,” she said. “It is hard to put into words the feelings I’ve experienced over the last year and nine months; the hole that will never heal in my heart.”
Worley, she said, dehumanized her daughter but did not take away her worth to her family and friends.
“Sierah’s life was worth far more than the 20 years she was able to live... As her mother, I could not be prouder of the person that she was,” she said.
WATCH: Blade reporters reflect on the Sierah Joughin murder case
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Before he was sentenced, Worley gave a nearly 45-minute, rambling and disjointed statement that was at times defiant but not remorseful. He turned to face the gallery and did not address the judge.
He repeatedly said he believes someone else kidnapped Ms Joughin. He said someone framed him by leaving evidence at his home and leaving his lost motorcycle helmet — which had Ms. Joughin’s blood on it — and other items at the suspected abduction scene where Ms. Joughin’s bike was found.
He added there are still unanswered questions about DNA that was found, which could one day prove his innocence, but he also offered remarks about his defense team, his encounters with police after Ms. Joughin’s disappearance, and his own past.
“Before you judge me harshly, think about these things one last time,” Worley said. “There will be an appeals process and I just have to pray that I will be vindicated because I can’t... I didn’t do anything.”
Members of the gallery became increasingly more upset as he continued. At one point Worley referred to Ms. Joughin as a “beautiful girl.” Members of her family stood up and walked out of the courtroom.
Worley paused and watched as they stood and filed out.
“The family isn’t taking this well, and I can understand it. I get it,” Worley said. “The bottom line is you need to look at all the other facts that support my innocence.”
VIDEO: Family statement on Worley sentencing
Judge Robinson set Worley’s execution date for June 3, 2019.
In addition to the death sentence, he sentenced Worley to 11 years for kidnapping, eight years for felonious assault, 11 months for possession of criminal tools, 36 months each for tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability.
He ruled those sentences run consecutively.
There are currently no other death row inmates who were sentenced in Fulton County, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Ten people sentenced in Lucas County are awating execution after Gov. John Kasich on March 26 commuted William Montgomery’s death sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole, agreeing with the 6-4 recommendation of the Ohio Parole Board.
Montgomery was convicted for the 1986 robbery and murder of Debra Ogle of South Toledo.
Defense attorney Merle Dech declined to comment after sentencing. Fulton County Prosecutor Scott Haselman said he was thankful for the decisions of the judge and jury.
“Though the legal system provided as much justice as it can, I acknowledge and recognize that this trial, this verdict, can never fill the hole left in the family by Sierah’s death,” he said. “She was by all accounts a wonderful young woman whose life was ended far too early.”
Contact Lauren Lindstrom at llindstrom@theblade.com, 419-724-6154, or on Twitter @lelindstrom.
First Published April 18, 2018, 7:23 p.m.
