Regina Capobianco and John Mann
Edited:
Prosecutors to seek death penalty in Parma Heights prison pen-pal double slaying
By Cory Shaffer
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a 42-year-old man accused of stabbing to death his prison pen-pal and her boyfriend, then leaving their bodies in a Parma Heights home as he committed more crimes.
Thomas Knuff Jr. was indicted on multiple charges including aggravated murder with capital specifications that will make him eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted in the May 11 slayings of John Mann, 65, and Regina Capobianco, 50, at Mann's home in the 6200 block of Nelwood Road, near Ackley Road.
Knuff is also accused of soliciting two people, described as unindicted co-conspirators, to set fire to the bedroom where he left the couple's bodies, according to the indictment.
Knuff, who is currently being held on a $50 million bond, is set for a July 25 arraignment in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
Capobianco met Knuff through a prison inmate-to-inmate pen-pal program and the two exchanged letters for about 10 years, Parma Heights Capt. Steve Scharschmidt said.
Knuff was serving a 12-year sentence on multiple counts of aggravated robbery and breaking and entering charges.
Capobianco and Mann picked up Knuff when he was released from the Lorain Correctional Institution on April 11 and took him back to Mann's home.
Capobianco's sister reported her missing to Stark County authorities May 23, about 12 days after authorities believe the couple was killed.
Police found their bodies on June 21 along with a knife at the scene, Scharschmidt said.
Investigators obtained warrants to search Knuff's property, including his cellphone, and uncovered phone calls, text messages and letters that Knuff had written to an ex-girlfriend in the weeks after the killing, Scharschmidt said.
Knuff asked the woman to buy kerosene and have another man set fire to the room where the bodies were found in exchange for $500, Scharschmidt said.
They also tied Knuff to break-ins at Classic Hair Studio and Spa & Nails on May 17 and 18, according to the indictment.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index...eath_pena.html
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