DELTA, Ohio — While a convicted killer works through the appeals process, questions are circulating as to why investigators returned to dig up his former farm more than two years after he was sentenced to death.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI revisited 10627 Fulton County Road 6 outside Delta on Monday, bringing heavy equipment and evidence-recovery crews. The property was once owned by James D. Worley, 61, who abducted and murdered Sierah Joughin in a horrifying case that shook the quiet, rural community.
Sheila Vaculik, Ms. Joughin’s mother, now owns the property. She told The Blade on Tuesday afternoon she gave the authorities permission to access and search it, but has no idea why they wanted to revisit the land, or if anything was found there.
“I know it had nothing to do with Sierah’s case,” Ms. Vaculik said. “I do not know anything as to why they wanted to do some further digging. ... They have permission to do whatever they would like with that property, and they know that.”
She said crews were digging around the well on the property, which is completely enclosed underground and does not have any open-air access.
A spokesman for the FBI’s Cleveland Division declined to comment Tuesday. The sheriff’s office has not returned The Blade’s phone calls. A press release Monday from the sheriff’s office said only that authorities are continuing to investigate Worley.
“Whatever pieces they’re trying to link or find some closure with, I have no idea,” Ms. Vaculik said. “But we’re happy they’re pursuing other options to try and find some links, possibly.”
Worley 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. She was found bound and buried in a shallow grave in a cornfield along County Road 7 about a mile from the property.
Investigators in 2016 were quickly suspicious that Worley had other victims. In Search warrant records from the time of Ms. Joughin’s disappearance, investigators said he “fits the profile of a serial offender and could potentially have additional unknown victims who could have been kept at the [property].”
Inside a barn on the property, authorities discovered a hidden room secured from the outside by a ratchet strap and concealed by hay bales. It contained a carpet-lined freezer with blood stains, restraints, a mattress, and women’s undergarments. A multitude of other items were also seized from the property.
“There was so much in Sierah’s case that screamed he was more than just a one-time offender,” Ms. Vaculik said. “I do know there are a lot of cases that they think may have had his fingers on them.”
In July, 1990, Worley was convicted of abducting then-26-year-old Robin Gardner as she biked near Whitehouse. He served three years in prison, and Ms. Gardner testified in his trial for Ms. Joughin’s murder.
“I would love for them to be able to tie him to another case,” Ms. Vaculik said. “As far as we’re concerned, we had our day in court and we got our verdict.”
She said she has no plans for the property other than to hold it. The house and main barn were previously taken down after a court awarded the property to Ms. Joughin’s estate. The garage and an outbuilding still stand.
First Published September 2, 2020, 1:21 a.m.
