Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Marcellus Smith is the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force’s fugitive of the week.
The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force is offering a reward for information that would lead to the capture of fugitive Marcellus Smith. Smith is wanted by the U.S. Marshals and the Cleveland Division of Police. Smith, along with his brother, is suspected of shooting and killing a man with a shotgun around 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day. Smith is considered to be armed and extremely dangerous. Smith is a 22-year-old black man standing approximately at 6-foot 1-inch and weighing 175 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Smith is believed to be hiding somewhere in Cleveland. He also has a previous address near the 3100 block of E. 99th Street in Cleveland. If anyone has any information in reference to Marcellus Smith, please contact the …
Monday, January 30, 2012
Kent man guilty of killing Jeffrey Sipes on June 5 will be eligible for parole after 15 years.
Kent resident Leonard Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison this morning during a brief sentencing hearing during which the only people who spoke were the judge and attorneys. Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St., had pleaded no contest Nov. 28 to two counts of murder in the June 5 death of Jeffrey A. Sipes, 57, who was found dead by Kent police in his Silver Meadows apartment June 6. Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Laurie Pittman said both counts bring with them life imprisonment, with parole eligibility after 15 years and a $300 fine plus court costs, with 20 years to pay. Pittman, who met with the prosecution and defense attorneys in chambers before the hearing, said since the two murder charges "are allied offenses of similar…
Monday, November 28, 2011
Leonard Armstrong pleaded no contest to murder charges
A Kent man was found guilty this morning of stabbing another Kent man to death over the summer. Leonard J. Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St., pleaded no contest to two counts of murder in the June 5 death of Jeffrey A. Sipes, 57, who was found dead by Kent police in his Silver Meadows apartment June 6. Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman accepted Armstrong's no contest pleas to two counts of murder at the Ravenna courthouse. Pittman ordered his case to go through a pre-sentencing investigation, effectively delaying his sentencing for at least a week or more. Armstrong appeared in court with his attorney, Frank Beane, who tried to suppress statements his client had made to police officers admitting to Sipes’ murder. Pittman …
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Leonard Armstrong was found sane and competent to stand trial by a court-ordered sanity evaluation
The Kent man accused of stabbing another Kent man to death this summer will stand trial for the crime. Leonard Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St., has been ruled sane and competent enough to stand trial in the stabbing death of Jeffrey A. Sipes, 57, who was found dead by Kent police in his Silver Meadows apartment June 6. At a hearing this morning, Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman confirmed the results of Armstrong's sanity evaluation with his attorney, Frank Beane, and Portage County Assistant Prosecutor Eugene Muldowney. Both attorneys agreed to the finding. "The defendant did know the lawfulness of his acts on the day in question," Muldowney said. Armstrong pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in July based on …
Monday, August 15, 2011
Kent man Leonard Armstrong's sanity will be evaluated following his not guilty by reason of insanity plea
The trial for a Kent man accused of stabbing another Kent man to death earlier this summer has been delayed in order to determine his sanity. At a hearing this morning, Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman ordered a sanity evaluation for Leonard Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St. Late last month, Armstrong pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of Jeffrey A. Sipes, 57, who was found dead by Kent police in his Silver Meadows apartment June 6. Armstrong's trial on the murder charge was scheduled for a Sept. 2 pretrial hearing with his jury trial scheduled to start Sept. 13. But Pittman said the court-ordered sanity evaluations typically take 30 to 60 days to complete. "So the Sept. 2 pretrial will not go forward," …
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Kent man Leonard Armstrong has entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea in the June stabbing death of Jeffrey Sipes
A Kent man has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after being charged with stabbing another Kent man to death earlier this summer. Leonard Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St., has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of Jeffrey A. Sipes, 57, who was found dead by Kent police in his Silver Meadows apartment June 6. Armstrong was indicted on a murder charge in Sipes' death in early July. Armstrong's defense attorney, Frank Beane, wrote in his written not-guilty plea that his client is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and has been under psychiatric care since the age of 20 — for 29 years. "According to Mr. Armstrong, his mental breakdown began when his wife left him," Beane wrote in the plea, submitted July 27. "It has …
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Accused murderer Leonard Armstrong gave statement to police in Jeffrey Sipes' stabbing death; possible plea deal uncertain
Bond has been raised to $1.5 million for the Kent man charged with stabbing another Kent man to death last month. Leonard Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St., was indicted last week on a murder charge in the stabbing death of Jeffrey A. Sipes, 57, who was found dead by Kent police in his Silver Meadows apartment June 6. At his initial arraignment, Armstrong's bond was set at $1 million by Portage County Common Pleas Judge Barb Oswick. Last week, Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman raised his bond to $1.5 million. Pittman also ruled Armstrong to be indigent and appointed Canton Attorney Frank Beane as Armstrong's defense counsel. Beane said he filed a motion for discovery last week and expects to get the Portage County Prosecutor…
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Leonard Armstrong faces a minimum 15 years in prison if found guilty in the stabbing death of Jeffrey Sipes
A Kent man has been indicted in the murder of Jeffrey A. Sipes, who police found stabbed to death in his Silver Meadows apartment June 6. A Portage County grand jury indicted Leonard Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St., on an unclassified felony murder murder charge Thursday. Armstrong's case had been set for a hearing the next day in Kent, but that was dismissed in light of the indictment. Instead, he was rescheduled and set to appear this morning before Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Laurie Pittman. At his initial arraignment, Armstrong was ordered held on a $1 million bond. At Armstrong's request, the court appointed attorney Frank L. Beane as his defense counsel. Thursday's indictment means Armstrong's case will go to a jury …
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Nearly 40 of Portage County's registered sex offenders live in Kent
When Kent resident Leonard Armstrong was arrested last week and charged with murder, his Sherman Street housemates were surprised to learn they had been living with a registered sex offender. Armstrong moved late last year into Apt. 2 at 112 Sherman St., a large home built in 1890 and now divided into nearly a dozen rooming house units. While fellow residents said they had many conversations with Armstrong regarding his past, his sex offender status never came up. One of the rooming house residents was upset that he had his young daughter at the house for a visit the previous week. “I wouldn’t have brought her over if I knew,” he said. Armstrong's Sherman Street rooming house is located just over a half-mile away from both Walls Elementary…
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Thursday, June 23, 2011
Leonard Armstrong is being held in the Portage County jail
Editor's Note: Updated at 4:44 p.m. June 23. The Kent man accused of stabbing another Kent man to death is being held on a $1 million bond one day after being charged with murder. Portage County Municipal Court Judge Barbara Oswick set bond for Leonard J. Armstrong, 49, of 112 Sherman St., at $1 million at his arraignment this afternoon at the recommendation of the Portage County Prosecutor's Office. Armstrong was charged in the death of Jeffrey A. Sipes, 57, who was found by Kent police in his Silver Meadows apartment June 6. He appeared in Oswick's courtroom via a video link from the Portage County jail, where he is being held. Armstrong appeared to be wearing what is commonly referred to as a suicide smock, a black, velcro outfit with …
Extremely Disgruntled
2:50 pm on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Looking up this guy on the FED registry, said his offense was convicted on 6/15/93, and his registration started in 2002. Seeing this information, and his being in the lowest risk category, he would have been off the registry as of 10/02/12 this year. This was a murder charge, not a sex offense, and he has quite a history of mental issues. (I still can't fathom the MATH that there are TWO charges… more ›