ASHLAND, Ohio -- It started with a frightened phone call and the grisly discovery of two bodies.
Nineteen months later, suspected serial killer Shawn Grate is set to face trial. Jury selection will get underway Monday in Ashland County Common Pleas Court before Judge Ron Forsthoefel.
Grate, 41, is charged with 23 counts, including aggravated murder. If convicted of aggravated murder, Grate could face the death penalty.
"These are some of the most horrific crimes I've seen in my 15 years as a criminal prosecutor," Prosecutor Chris Tunnell said after Grate was indicted in September 2016. "Given these depraved actions and the gruesome evidence, I will be strongly recommending the death penalty if a jury finds this defendant guilty."
The main charges involve the deaths of Elizabeth Griffith, 29, and Stacey Stanley, 43, and the kidnapping of a woman prosecutors are calling Jane Doe. According to a previous news release, Doe was kidnapped and raped multiple times but escaped after calling 911 on Sept. 13, 2016.
After Doe's rescue and the apprehension of Grate, police found the bodies of Griffith and Stanley at a house at 363 Covert Court, just off downtown Ashland. According to the preliminary autopsy, both women had been strangled.
Charges involving Griffith are aggravated murder (two counts), kidnapping, gross abuse of a corpse and burglary. Prosecutors allege the offenses happened between Aug. 16 and Sept.13, 2016.
A tampering with evidence charge alleges Grate tried to destroy or conceal a key, a cellphone and a Yahtzee game sheet in the same time frame.
Charges involving Stanley include aggravated murder (two counts), kidnapping (two counts), rape, aggravated robbery, gross abuse of a corpse and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
The indictment said those offenses happened between Sept. 8 and 13, 2016.
Six other counts involve Doe and include kidnapping, three counts of rape, robbery and burglary. Prosecutors say those offenses happened between Sept. 11 and 13.
In addition, there are two burglary charges and a breaking and entering charge unrelated to the three women. They involve two trailers in Charles Mill Lake Park and the Mifflin Flea Market.
Grate has been held at the Ashland County Jail on a $1 million cash bond since his arrest. Ashland County has had only two death penalty-eligible murders in the last 20 years.
Grate's trial had been scheduled for Nov. 6, 2017, but defense attorneys Robert and Rolf Whitney filed a motion to continue to give two expert witnesses more time to prepare.
At one point, Grate pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was found competent to stand trial, meaning he understood the charges against him and could help in his own defense.
Grate later was evaluated at the District V Forensic Diagnostic Center in Mansfield. According to the doctor who did the assessment, Grate was not insane at the time of the crimes he is accused of committing.
Jury selection is expected to take two full weeks. There are no witnesses scheduled to testify until April 23. Attorneys on both sides did not want a jury view, so jurors will not go to the crime scene.
Security will be at a premium at the trial. Forsthoefel will not allow any members of the gallery to have cellphones in the court. Law enforcement witnesses will not bring their weapons to the courtroom.
The trial is expected to last until mid-May.
In addition to the Ashland County case, Grate is being investigated in connection with killings in Richland and Marion counties.
In Richland County, authorities said Grate confessed to killing Candice Cunningham in June 2016. Her body was found behind the burned-out house at 1027 Park Avenue East in Madison Township.
Mansfield police also are investigating Grate for a possible connection to the death of Rebekah Leicy, whose body was found in an Ashland County woods in 2015.
Grate also reportedly confessed to killing a woman in Marion County between 2003 and 2005. She has not been identified.