Stroud Indicted On Aggravated Murder Charges

If he is convicted of a 12-count indictment, former Mentor Police Officer and Lake County Sheriff's Special Deputy Gary Stroud, 57, could spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering his wife, Diane Stroud.

A Lake County Grand Jury secretly indicted Stroud today on three counts of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of felonious assault, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of gross abuse of a corpse.

"These are different subsections of aggravated murder so if he were to be convicted on one or more of these counts, they would be merged for sentencing," said Lake County Prosecutor Charles E. Coulson. He declined to discuss why Stroud was indicted on kidnapping counts and other details about the case.

"The grand jury did not indict him on the death penalty," said Coulson. "The maxiumum (penalty) is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole."

Coulson said Stroud waived an arraignment hearing in Lake County Common Pleas Court and no additional court hearings have been scheduled for now. Stroud's defense attorney Timothy Debb could not be reached for comment.

The indictment states that between Oct. 9 and November 27, Stroud did "purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the death" of his wife.

Diane Stroud, 53, had not been seen in six weeks. Gary Stroud had been telling members of his family that his wife left him and joined a cult, according to Mentor-on-the-Lake police reports. However, a family member smelled something rotting in Stroud's garage on Marine Parkway, Mentor-on-the-Lake.

When the family member asked about the smell, Stroud claimed that one of the chickens he kept in the back yard had died. But the family member was suspicious enough that she called police.

When police searched the garage, they found Diane Stroud's body.

Lake County Coroner Lynn Smith said that force trauma. In layman's terms, she was hit with a blunt object.

, Peter and Jean Gammiere -- neighbors who live across the street from the Strouds -- said that Gary and Diane had been having marital problems.

Additionally, the affidavit elaborates on the lengths that somebody went to hide Diane Stroud's body. Her body was encased in a sleeping bag with a garbage bag pulled over her head that was secured with duct tape. Then the sleeping bag was covered with a tarp that was also held down with duct tape, according to the affidavit.

Finally, both a bag of lime and a bottle of bleach were found near the body.

Stroud retired from the Mentor Police Department more than five years ago. Since then, he had worked for the Lake County Sheriff's Office part time as a special deputy.

He provided court security, helped deliver papers, escorted clerical employees to the bank and did other odd jobs, Lake County Sheriff Dan Dunlap said.

Stroud was laid off by the department in September not because he was remiss in his work but because of financial necessities, Dunlap said.

Stroud's house was foreclosed on in October, according to Lake County Court of Common Pleas records, but it has not been sold yet.

A  funeral Mass for Diane Stroud will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at , 9114 Lakeshore Blvd., Mentor.

Diane Stroud served two four-year terms from 1996 to 2003 on the Mentor-on-the-Lake City Council, including one year as council president.

Donations may be made to the Lake Humane Society and Adoption Center, 7564 Tyler Blvd., Building E, Mentor, OH 44060.

Arrangements are by in Mentor.