By Kathy Laird
CCN Contributor
BUCYRUS — Testimony continued Thursday in Crawford County Common Pleas Court with the afternoon ending in a verdict against Matthew Kunzer, 34, of Bucyrus. Kunzer was charged with eight third degree felonies for intimidation, five for retaliation and six misdemeanors associated with the felonies.
The state maintained that Kunzer had a plan to kill police officers, Judge Shane Leuthold and Probation Officer Eric Bohach. Kunzer’s attorney, Andrew Motter, contended that his client was indeed loud and boisterous but had no intention of carrying out the threats.
Several witnesses including a paralegal, a law clerk and booking officer recounted similar stories of Kunzer sharing his plan to kill the various individuals. Attorney Adam Stone gave testimony on Thursday explaining his decision to alert the judge about the threats made against him.
Noting the importance of attorney/client privilege, Stone explained there are rare occasions when it is permitted to disclose what a client shares with him or his employees. In this case, Stone felt that the people threatened were in danger and decided to contact the judge.
Stone explained that he sought ethics advice from a legal professor at the Ohio State University. Stone’s legal assistant, Bobbie Everly, came to Stone with concerns as did his law clerk, Michael Brown. Kunzer told Everly that he planned to overpower his mother on his next trip to the VA hospital in Columbus. He planned to take her car and come back to Bucyrus and kill the judge, Bohach and police officers.
In her testimony Everly told the jury that she had had a lot of contact with Kunzer and knew he was often agitated. On cross-examination, Everly told attorney Motter she didn’t really think he would act on the plan. Brown visited Kunzer at the Crawford County Justice Center. He testified that Kunzer made threats toward specific persons including Judge Leuthold and Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Hooveler.
Kunzer told Brown, “I’m going to bury these mother (expletive) six feet under.” While Brown testified, Kunzer appeared unresponsive and pretended to cast a line and reel in a fish. Bohach took the stand and told the jury that he had had limited contact with Kunzer.
Bohach was the probation officer assigned to Kunzer’s girlfriend who was part of the ISAT Program offered to addicts through the court. Bohach testified that he met Kunzer when he came to a reporting appointment with his girlfriend. Sad to say, Kunzer’s girlfriend died of a drug overdose.
Bohach’s next interaction with Kunzer came when he was asked by the Crawford County Sherriff’s Department to assist with the transport of Kunzer to the VA hospital in Columbus. Bohach said he and another corrections officer drove Kunzer to the VA in a marked cruiser. They arrived at the hospital and Kunzer was checked in for his appointment.
The VA social worker said that Kunzer needed to be checked out by the urgent care division because of some of the comments he had made. He told the intake worker that he was suicidal and hearing voices telling him to kill people. He indicated that he could not say who they were because they were close by. A squad then took Kunzer to Mt. Carmel Hospital.
When asked by the state if he took these threats seriously, Bohach said he had to. “His girlfriend died of a drug overdose and he blamed us for her death because she was not in jail.” When asked to identify the defendant, Bohach pointed to Kunzer and said, “He’s the one raising his eyebrows and blowing kisses at me.”
Judge Leuthold related the change in behavior of the former corrections officer over the years. “It was like a complete metamorphosis,” Leuthold said. Leuthold met Kunzer briefly when his neighbor brought him by a barbeque Leuthold was having. “I would not recognize him today based on what he looked like those years ago.”
Leuthold said when Kunzer first appeared in his court, he was surprised at the charges of drug possession and possession of marijuana. At the time, Leuthold suspended a 90-day jail sentence and sent him to treatment. Several months later, he was back in front of Leuthold on a probation violation.
There was an altercation outside the Crazy Fox Saloon and Kunzer made chilling comments to the officers involved. Now, according to Leuthold, he had a domestic violence charge and a probation violation charge. While Kunzer was being held on the probation violation, his girlfriend died of a drug overdose. Leuthold said the decision was made to allow Kunzer a furlough to go to calling hours for his girlfriend.
Leuthold said it was a tough decision. “I am charged with making tough decisions. I have to weigh out what is best for the public safety and the person being held in jail. The decision was made to send Kunzer to an in-patient treatment program.
“I knew he had a drug problem and I was optimistic that in-patient treatment would help him”, added Leuthold. The probation violation was dismissed. Then Leuthold noted that Kunzer came up again before him on the most recent charges stemming from the July incident at the Crazy Fox.
“After yet another incident, a probation violation, three counts of menacing a police officer and threatening to kill people, I put a $150,000 bond on Mr. Kunzer,” Leuthold said. He became aware that Kunzer was receiving medical treatment for Hepatitis C. A treatment protocol had begun and if he stopped treatment he would lose all progress. Leuthold arranged to allow Kunzer’s mother take him to treatment on a medical furlough from the jail.
Leuthold testified that Stone came to him and explained Kunzer’s threats to overpower his mother and take her vehicle during his next furlough. Leuthold modified the furlough and had deputies escort Kunzer to his appointments. Because threats had been made toward Leuthold he decided to recuse himself from the case and ask for a special visiting judge to preside.
“I cannot preside over a case where I am a victim,” Leuthold said. When asked if he took the threats seriously, Leuthold told the jury, “I have to take these seriously. You can’t open your phone or turn on your TV without seeing where someone has been shot or killed. I have had the chance to see Mr. Kunzer as a metamorphosis. I’ve seen the change in his personality, the threats have become more detailed.” As Leuthold concluded his testimony, Kunzer told him, “Have a terrible day.”
Before court began on Thursday, visiting Judge Brown admonished Kunzer for his behavior the day before. “I know you are under stress, but you must control yourself. I understand you are animated but you must let your attorney pay attention to the witnesses so let him do his work.”
Lisa Piestrelli, a former booking officer at the Sheriff’s Department testified that, when she was booking Kunzer into jail on July 20, 2017, he asserted that if he hadn’t been in shackles during his visit to the VA hospital he would have killed Bohach. “He blames Bohach for his girlfriend’s death” Piestrelli said.
Hooveler testified that he had never prosecuted Kunzer but explained that he often reviews charges made by police to see if they rise to the level of a felony. “I look at the incidents to see potential felonies and I may have looked at this paperwork, but I don’t know if I did,” Hooveler said. Hooveler recused himself from the case when he learned that he was a victim of Kunzer as well.
In closing arguments for the state, Special Prosecutor Micah Ault told the jury that Kunzer had a plan. “When you tell a police officer you are going to break him, you are going to knock out his teeth, when you threaten members of his family, that is intimidation.” Saying that Kunzer wanted the jury to believe that he drinks too much and gets out of control, Ault reminded jurors that Kunzer repeated his plan over and over when he was not drinking. Ault concluded saying that Kunzer had a plan to intimidate, a plan to retaliate and a plan to murder.
In closing arguments, Motter contended that the police handled Kunzer roughly, forcing him into the cruiser. Motter told the jury they agreed to look at the evidence but they must also listen to what was said and how it was said. “Mr. Kunzer tends to get graphic and boisterous. You must decide if there was a threat and to whom. I think he wanted to whine. In the middle of a rant he turned to a deputy and said, “I love you, but I’m not going to behave, Motter said. Motter told the jury his client has no filter. He argued that the communication of threats was not meant to reach the ears of those who were threatened but that Stone set the charges in motion when he decided to break attorney/client confidentiality.
“Words alone do not show intent,” Motter said. He then asked the jury to return a not guilty verdict because evidence did not reach the standard required in the case.
After approximately two hours of deliberation; the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts. Judge Brown ordered a pre-sentence investigation be completed on Kunzer with sentencing to follow.
Dan Messerschmidt contributed to this article.