First Posted: 1/26/2015
WAPAKONETA — A man facing the chance at spending the rest of his life in prison on a 30-year-old murder charge told a judge Monday he would accept a plea deal for a seven-year prison sentence.
Tracy Mabry also must provide a statement to law enforcement officers, help the prosecution, and testify against any co-defendants remaining in the killing of Marcellus Reineke on Oct. 13, 1981. Reineke was beaten and stabbed to death inside his St. Marys apartment at 229 S. West St. Relatives found his body a few days later.
The prosecution offered Mabry a chance to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and with a minimum sentence of seven years.
Mabry’s attorneys agreed to dismiss five motions to suppress and one motion to dismiss the case. Mabry’s attorneys said there were six to eight hours of statements captured on audio or video tape.
The change of plea is scheduled for Feb. 20 in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court. Visiting Judge Reginald Routson told Mabry he would ask him a series of questions during that hearing to make sure he understood the constitutional rights he was waiving.
Routson also told Mabry, should he decide to change his mind, he was against postponing the trial, which is scheduled for March 9.
Another man, Paul Hoover, 53, was sentenced to seven to 25 years in prison on the charge of involuntary manslaughter for his role in the crime. Based on statements from a prosecutor Monday, there is at least one more person, not named, believed to have played a role in the crime.
