Life sentence for killing
Relatives of victim describe their loss, attitude toward killer
Trending
Since his first night of boot camp, when he received a call from his brother that their father had been murdered, to the killer's sentencing Friday, a whole gamut of emotions have plagued Robert Uselton.
"He should have gotten life but 33 years is a start," said Robert, 24, of Fort Campbell, Ky., the son of Frederick Uselton, who was shot and killed in his bed in August. "It's the beginning of closure for me and my family."
Charles "Chuckie" Wayne Loy, 43, of 203 Duncan Drive, New Matamoras, was sentenced Friday to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 33 years.
Loy was found guilty by a Washington County jury in March of six separate counts: two counts of aggravated murder, both unscheduled felonies; one count of murder, also an unscheduled felony; two counts of aggravated burglary, both second-degree felonies; and one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. The jury also confirmed all five weapons specifications for the first five counts.
But for the purposes of sentencing, the court combined the first five charges to sentence only the highest conviction--an unscheduled count of aggravated murder-- and the tampering with evidence conviction.
Uselton and Loy had shared a girlfriend for several months prior to the murder and had previously been friends. Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings said Loy's motivation for breaking into Uselton's home and killing him in his sleep was jealousy.
"Mr. Loy, you cannot begin to fathom the pain you have caused not only this family but your own," said the victim's sister, Karen Ovall, of Toledo, in a statement to the court before the sentence was imposed. "Fred's father is 87 years old and will never recover from his loss, (Uselton) was a namesake child for both his parents and a father to two sons and one daughter and had three grandchildren."
Ovall asked on behalf of her family that Loy not be given any possibility of parole but Loy's defense attorney Colin Peters said Loy wasn't likely to kill again.
"There's no sugar coating the harm Mr. Loy has created by taking Fred Uselton's life and there's nothing he can do to change that…but he does not have a violent history and is remorseful," said Peters. "Give him a sentence with a possibility to breathe fresh air again, so that he could someday earn a chance to get out of prison."
Loy only had one statement to add to Peters'.
"I'd like to tell the family I'm sorry that I can't turn back what I did," he said.
But Washington County Common Pleas Judge Mark Kerenyi disagreed with Peters assessment of Loy.
"He shows no remorse and has actually been blaming the victim and claiming it was a justified murder," said Kerenyi. "I also find it troubling that he was working as a confidential informant for the state at the time of the offense."
Kerenyi also listed a series of criminal conduct by Loy dating back to 1993 before sentencing Loy to life in prison for the murder of Uselton and an additional mandatory three years for the tampering with evidence conviction.
Uselton's first chance of parole will be after 33 years, when he is 76 years old.
"If Fred's son's are OK with it, I'm OK with it," said Uselton's sister Linda Wilbur, of Michigan.
Fred Uselton's niece, Crystal Uselton Maze, 41, of Akron, wiped away tears as she shared the frustration with Loy's possibility of parole but said any and every hearing for appeals or parole would be attended by the family.
"And if I can't be there, my children will be there. He should never be released," she said. "I do feel bad for (Loy's) mom though. He not only did this to my family, he broke her heart too."
At a glance
¯ Charles "Chuckie" Wayne Loy, 43, of 203 Duncan Drive, New Matamoras, was sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole after 33 years for the murder of Frederick "Fred" Uselton, 50, of New Matamoras, on Aug. 28.
Source: Washington County Common Pleas Court.