A Cuyahoga County jury has recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of murdering two people in Parma Heights shortly after his release from prison.
Thomas Knuff Jr., 44, was found guilty of aggravated murder last month in the stabbing deaths of 50-year-old Regina Capobianco and 65-year-old John Mann back in May of 2017. Knuff had been serving a sentence of more than 15 years in the Lorain Correctional Institution for aggravated robbery and was apparently staying at the home of the victims. Authorities said Capobianco had been his prison pen pal.
According to investigators, Knuff stabbed both victims multiple times and hid their bodies inside the home on Nelwood Road. Their bodies were not found until a month later when officials performed a welfare check.
Knuff's death sentence is not yet final, with Judge Deena R. Calabrese set to issue an official sentence on Aug. 14 at 10:30 a.m. While it is possible a judge could overrule a jury's death penalty recommendation, such cases are extremely rare.
