Ohio has of late been witness to many different cases against real estate agents. The worst and the most gory of them all happened in Youngstown. This was a chilling cold blooded murder of a 67 year old real estate agent, Vivian Martin. The accused are 25 year old Robert Brooks and Grant Cooper, 21. These young men first set up an appointment with the lady under a fake name of ‘Steve West’ and then strangled her and burnt the property down. Her body was found charred beyond recognition.
The detective on their case, Sgt. John Patton, has made interesting discoveries. There has been a trail of suspicious activities by individuals who have scared many different real estate agents in and around Youngstown. One of them was so scared that he noted down the license plate number and registered a case. The license plate number was identified to be that of Robert Brooks’ silver Jeep. He has not only been charged for Vivian’s murder but then there was a robbery not far from where he lives in Boardman and Sgt. Patton was quick to find similarities between the cases. There was another robbery case where even Brooks’ brother, Paul was charged along with him. Because of the vast number of crimes that have been committed the Mahoning County Prosecutor, Paul Gains, is making sure that the jury passes indictments which make these accused eligible for the death penalty and as the case against Brooks is getting stronger, they are also closing upon other people who can be seen playing an important part in the crimes.
In another murder, which has been ruled out from having any connection from the one in question is that of another real estate agent Andrew VonStein, 51 and the accused is Robert Grigelaitis, 59. VonStein was shot dead with his belongings gone before the police found the body. An alert has been sounded against Robert who is said to be armed and can prove dangerous. The case against Robert is reinforced by the fact that he was said to have lived in Ravenna in northeast Ohio where the body was found.
There has been uproar and a state of panic in the entire state, including places as far away as Mason OH homes for sale, with real estate agents fearing for their lives and thus hampering their jobs. Many of them are now meeting prospective buyers in pairs and have cancelled open houses. A Youngtown open house was cancelled in honor of Martin. Cincinnati real estate agents are advised to report anything suspicious they may find to the local authorities as well as their offices so that other agents can avoid the possible threat.