Robert Gary Girts

Case record: Robert Gary Girts

Background

Robert Gary Girts was a Poland Township native who worked at a funeral home in the Cleveland suburb of Parma. He was a former undertaker.

His third wife was Diane Girts. She died in 1992. Diane Girts was 42 years old. Diane Girts was killed in a case where prosecutors said he gave her a fatal dose of potassium cyanide.

Bettianne Jones of Columbiana was Diane Girts’ sister-in-law. Jones worked last summer taking “a binderful of information” to the state parole board to make sure Girts wasn’t granted parole.

The offence

Girts was convicted of aggravated murder in the death of Diane Girts.

Prosecutors said he gave Diane Girts a fatal dose of potassium cyanide.

The motive was described as “PC-domestic”, and the mode of operation was described as “Bluebeard” slayer of wives.

Investigation

No investigation details beyond the poisoning allegation were provided.

Trial

First trial and conviction (1993)

Girts was convicted in 1993 of aggravated murder in the death of Diane Girts.

Appeal and reversal (1994)

Girts’ 1993 conviction was reversed by a state appeals court in 1994.

Second trial and conviction (1994)

Girts was convicted again the following year by a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas jury.

In the second trial, a federal appeals court later ruled that the prosecutor made improper comments.

The federal proceedings later noted that the prosecutor improperly commented on Girts’ failure to testify at his second trial, and that he got ineffective legal advice. The court did not free Girts.

Federal district court (2005)

A federal district court ruled in 2005 that the prosecutor improperly commented on Girts’ failure to testify at his second trial and that he got ineffective legal advice, but the court declined to free Girts.

Federal appeals court (Sixth Circuit)

A federal appeals court ordered Girts to be retried in six months or be set free. The ruling cited the prosecutor’s improper comments.

The appeals court issued a 2-1 ruling.

The Supreme Court of the United States was involved through a petition for writ of certiorari, listed as “05-4023” and as part of Supreme Court proceedings.

Sentencing

On June 11, 1993, Girts was sentenced to life in prison with a possibility of parole after twenty years.

The record also states: “20 years to life on one count.”

Appeals

Girts’ second conviction was upheld, and later proceedings followed:

• A federal district court ruled in 2005 that the prosecutor improperly commented on Girts’ failure to testify at his second trial and that he got ineffective legal advice, but declined to free Girts.
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in a 2-1 decision that Girts must be given another trial because the prosecutor’s statements were sufficiently flagrant to warrant reversal.
• The appeals court ordered Girts to be retried in six months or be set free.

Outcome

Girts’ case outcome included an order for retrial in six months or set free, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Aftermath

Jones said: “This was the day, Sept. 5th, that we buried Diane,” Bettianne Jones said Wednesday.

Jones said she felt discouraged when she heard the news Wednesday. Jones said: “I felt like all the air was sucked out of me.”

Jones said her husband, Barry, who was Diane Girts’ brother, died in 1997, and he would not be with her for the third trial.

Jones said she didn’t think she could go through it all again, then she got angry. Jones said: “I’m thinking, bring it on,” and “We’ll have another trial, and we’ll convict him a third time.”

Jones had worked with information for the state parole board to ensure Girts wasn’t granted parole. The parole board denied parole and ruled him ineligible for parole for the next 10 years.

Other details

The case materials included:

• “United States Court of Appeals For the Sixth Circuit opinion 05-4023”
• “In the Supreme Court of the United States petition for writ of certiorari”
• A publication date of Thursday, September 6, 2007 and a report dateline “CINCINNATI —”
• A statement attributed to Jones’s husband’s relationship: Barry was Diane Girts’ brother
• The death of Diane Girts was in 1992, and the report included the phrase: “This was the day, Sept. 5th, that we buried Diane”