United States of America

GRATE
Shawn Michael

Active from 2006 to 2016 in Ohio

DID YOU KNOW...

Arresting Fact

Grate was arrested after falling asleep in the middle of a kidnapping

Interesting Fact

Other bodies were found in the same house as where Grate was arrested

Creep Fact

Grate pleaded guilty so a jury would never see his crime videos

THE DISPATCH

The Beginning

Shawn Michael Grate said he developed a sexual attraction to children in his 20s, while researching serial killers. He denied ever acting on his pedophilic feelings.

Early Crimes

Grate spent time in prison for burglary, and was put on probation for assaulting a girlfriend. He raped women, lusted after children and eventually, he started killing. In some cases, he filmed himself sexually assaulting the victims.

The Murders

Dana Nicole Lowrey

In May, 2006, Dana Nicole Lowrey went missing from her Minden, Louisiana job as a traveling sales person. She was not reported missing. Grate later told police his mother had purchased magazines from Lowrey, but the subscriptions had not shown up. Grate tracked Lowrey down, took her to his house, and strangled her. When she came to, he stabbed and strangled her to death. She was 23.

Lowrey's Remains Found

Almost a year later, Lowrey’s remains were found on March 10, 2007. A man was searching for scrap metal at an illegal dumping site in Marion, Ohio, when he spotted a skull. Realizing it was not a Halloween prop, he returned to the site with his sister and girlfriend, and the trio found additional remains. They contacted police. Despite sketches and facial reconstruction, she would remain unidentified until 2019. Grate confessed to her murder after his 2016 arrest, but could not provide a name.

Rebekah Lynn Leicy

On January 23, 2015, Rebekah Lynn Leicy went missing. Initially filed as a drug overdose, police considered her death suspicious. Police had started looking for her on February 6. They had searched almost 60 abandoned and “drug” houses looking for her. Grate later said he killed her for taking $40 from him. He strangled her in an abandoned building, then stuffed her body in a hard golf bag and, after a day, dumped her by a tree. She was found March 16, 2015. Leicy was 31.

Candace Marie Cunningham

On June 6, 2016, Grate murdered Candace Marie Cunningham, his live-in girlfriend. He dumped her body down a ravine near a burned-out house. She wasn’t found until he was arrested and told police where to find her. Police officially identified her to the public on November 2, 2016. Cunningham was 29 when she died.

Elizabeth Ann Griffith

Elizabeth Ann Griffith was a paranoid schizophrenic who was considered “child-like”. She was strangled on August 16, 2016. Grate left her body under some clothes in an empty house he frequented, owned by Pump House Ministries. He would later say he freed her from her sadness. Griffith was 29.

Stacey Stanley

On September 8, 2016, 43-year-old Stacey Stanley was going to get her nails done when her car broke down. Grate came to her aid, and brought her to his house. She was strangled to death and left in a vacant house under some clothes. He filmed her. He hated her so much, despite having just met her, that when he dragged her body to the basement, he let her head bounce on the concrete steps. She was 43.

Arrest & Trial

Grate Arrested and Indicted

On September 13, 2016, a woman called police to say she had been abducted. She was in the same house where Grate had left some of his victims. Grate had fallen asleep, giving his victim the opportunity to call 911. She had been sexually assaulted and held for 3 days. When questioned, Grate said he had no plans to kill her, and in fact they were going to marry. He had shaved a heart into her pubic hair, and raped her repeatedly. Grate was arrested. He subsequently confessed to killing 5 women.

When police searched that house and an adjoining house, they found the remains of Griffith and Stanley hidden under piles of clothes. The same day, with some assistance from Grate, police recovered Cunningham’s body. By September 22, 2016, Grate was indicted for the murders of Stanley, Griffith, Leicy and Cunningham. Among the 14 counts of criminal activity was murder, arson, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.

Grate Convicted of 2 Murders

On May 3, 2018, Grate pleaded guilty to a variety of charges, excluding any homicides, prior to trial. This prevented any jury from seeing the videotapes Grate made of himself sexually assaulting one murder victim and one survivor. On May 7, 2018, Shawn Michael Grate was convicted of the murders of Stanley and Griffith.

Grate Sentenced to Death

Grate was declared a violent sexual predator by the courts on May 11, 2018. On June 1, he was sentenced to death for the murder of Griffith and Stanley. He also received an additional 90-years-to-life for other charges including aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery.

Grate Convicted of 2 More Murders

On March 1, 2019, Grate pled guilty to murder and gross abuse of a corpse for both Leicy and Cunningham. Grate was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Leicy, and 17-years-to-life for the other 3 crimes. Leicy’s family told the media they did not think Grate was the murderer.

Lowrey Identified, Grate Indicted

After contacting the DNA Doe Project in March, 2019, the Marion County Sheriff’s Department identified Lowrey’s remains which had been found March 10, 2007. They announced their findings on June 4, 2019, and indicted Grate the next day for her murder.

Grate Convicted of Last Murder

Grate pleaded guilty to the 2006 murder of Lowrey on September 11, 2019. He was sentenced in 2021 to life in prison by an Ohio court.

Appeals

On July19, 2022, Grate’s post-conviction petition – an appeal to set aside the verdict and request a new trial – was dismissed in Ashland County.

Grate’s Location

As of July 25, 2002, Grate remains incarcerated in Chillicothe Correctional Institution. He is scheduled for execution in 2025.

WHERE IT HAPPENED

An interactive map of where things happened

BOOKS

Books about or including The Killer

Cold Blooded Charmer: Serial Killer Shawn Grate by Jesse Dixon (Author, Publisher), Domingo D. Montez (Narrator)

Listening Length: 25 minutes
Author: Jesse Dixon
Narrator: Domingo D. Montez
Audible Release Date: June 29 2017
Publisher: Jesse Dixon
Program Type: Audiobook

On September 13, 2016, a call came through Ashland, Ohio’s 911 system from a distressed woman who claimed to be held captive in a home.

“I’ve been abducted,” she whispered to the dispatcher. “Please hurry.”

The police who arrived at the scene not only rescued the woman who had placed the call, but also discovered two dead bodies – left there by Shawn Michael Grate, a 40-year-old man who had a reputation for being a “cold-blooded charmer.” Grate also brought police to a third body, located in a wooded area by a ravine in neighboring Richland County. And, as the investigation continued, police uncovered connections to two more murders.

Serial Killer Stranglers: Serial Killer Quick Reference Guides #1 by Kevin Smith

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Serial Killer QRG (Feb. 10 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 122 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1733630600
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1733630603

This book contains 164 serial killers who have been known to strangle at least one victim during their acts as a serial killer. Each serial killer profile contains 30 points of data backed by our publicly accessible serial killer database. QR codes included in each profile leads the reader to the killers online profile on Killer.Cloud the serial killer database, ( https://killer.cloud ). Killer.Cloud’s data is crossed linked to other online datasets, easily referenced by short codes for readers as well as at the bottom of each serial killers online profile page.

VIDEOS & PODCASTS

Videos about Shawn Michael Grate

That Chapter

Shawn Grate Trial Prosecution Opening Statement

Stacey Stanley’s son addresses Shawn Grate in court

THE STATS

Years Between the First and Last Murders

Average Victim Age

Known Murder Victims

Years Between Lowrey's Death and Her Identification

Statistical table for Shawn Grate

Killer Name	GRATE, Shawn Michael
Gender	M
Arrest Date	September 13, 2016
Conviction Date	May 7, 2018
Sentence	2 death sentences, 3 life terms without parole
Birth Location	Marion County, Ohio
Birth Date	August 8, 1976
Status	Alive or Unknown
School Grade	high school
Sexual Preference	Straight
Marital Status	Divorced/Separated
Number of Children	3
Killer Type	Sexual/Sadistic, Wanderer
comment1	Convictions: 2 counts murder May 7, 2018 and 2 counts on March 1, 2019, 1 count on September 11, 2019
Total Dead Victims	5
Victims (Convicted)	5
Victim Gender	F
Victim Race	White
Victim Age	23, 31, 29, 43, 29
Victim Type	strangers, girlfriend, acquaintances
Method of Killing	stabbing, strangulation
Abduction	Yes
Robbery	Yes
Sex Assault	Yes
Body - Moved, Hidden	Yes
Previous Crimes	burglary; felony domestic violence, multiple assaults

Killer Rating

 5/5

RESOURCES

Last updated on 28 July 2022 by E. Kelly Hemingway