DELTA, Ohio — Investigators searched the former property of James Worley on Monday, more than two years after he was sentenced to death for the murder of a young woman named Sierah Joughin.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office was on the scene along with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team. Officials said they’re searching for evidence as they continue to investigate matters involving the convicted killer. It is unknown what prompted the search, or if investigators are searching for something in particular.
The property — located at 10627 Fulton County Road 6, outside Delta — is currently owned by relatives of Ms. Joughin. In late 2018, they announced plans to demolish the structures on the land.
At least one barn-like structure remained on the property Monday afternoon as agents in blue jackets that read “FBI” on the back worked in the area.
Officials on scene would not offer any information to reporters, but about a dozen investigators looked on as a large backhoe and a second smaller piece of heavy equipment dug into the ground at the edge of a wooded area between the barn and a field of soy beans. The equipment beeped as it backed up before lurching forward to pull up more loads of sand and dirt.
Worley, 61, was found guilty of abducting Ms. Joughin, a 20-year-old Metamora resident, while she was riding her bike on July 19, 2016. 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.
Her wrists were in handcuffs behind her back and bound with rope to her ankles. Her ankles were tied together. She died of asphyxiation from a large plastic gag that was found in her mouth, according to autopsy results.
Messages have been left for family of Ms. Joughin, the Fulton County sheriff and prosecutor, and the nonprofit Keeping Our Girls Safe formed in Ms. Joughin’s memory.
At Worley’s sentencing, Ms. Joughin’s mother, Sheila Vaculik, called her daughter “compassionate and vibrant.”
“This was a soul that embraced living and everything it had to offer,” she said at the time. “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.”
No recent search warrants have been returned related to Worley, according to the Fulton County Clerk of Court’s Office.
His execution date has been delayed while appeals in his case play out. He remains incarcerated at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. Worley's attorney, Gary Crim, on Monday told The Blade that he was made aware of the search, but did not know what prompted investigators to check the property again. He declined to comment further.
Records in the Ohio Supreme Court show Mr. Crim and co-counsel Andrew Avellano claim the sufficiency of the evidence did not prove Worley was the killer. Specifically, the attorneys claim that the government failed to prove that the death was purposeful, that Worley was the actual killer, and that he was engaged in any sexual activity with Ms. Joughin.
"The government asserts Worley had to kill Joughin. The government does not cite anything in the record to support its speculation other than implying that any rational kidnapper knows that they have to always kill their victim, especially if they were to dress them in sadomasochistic bondage gear," the attorneys wrote.
While investigators testified that there were multiple pornographic movies listed in the search history on Worley's computer, "the government asked the jurors, and now asks this court to assume that watching pornographic videos causes the viewer to act them out in real life."
They also argue that Worley was prejudiced by his trial counsel's failure to properly question the potential jurors. The jurors were reportedly exposed to "derogatory history" of the defendant and positive views of the prosecutor in the case and his witnesses, and therefore, they could not be fair in judging the evidence.
In a 132-page review of the case filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, prosecutors argued the state presented evidence to support Worley's convictions and that he received a fair trial. Additionally, Fulton County previously held that Ohio's capital punishment statutes are not unconstitutional, records show.
By the time Worley was arrested for the Joughin killing, he already had a history with law enforcement. In July, 1990, he was convicted of abducting then-26-year-old Robin Gardner as she biked near Whitehouse. He served three years in prison.
Search warrants executed by the sheriff’s office in 2016 during the search for Ms. Joughin said Worley “fits the profile of a serial offender and could potentially have additional unknown victims who could have been kept at the above described location.”
At the time, authorities used excavators and a dive team to search the property, which also has a pond.
Ms. Joughin’s family advocated for a state violent offender registry, now known as Sierah’s Law. The database is provided to law enforcement, though citizens are able to learn the residences of felons convicted of violent offenses including, aggravated murder, murder, voluntary manslaughter, abduction, and kidnapping.
Staff writer Alexandra Mester contributed.
First Published August 31, 2020, 6:34 p.m.