Ohio

Suspect in killings of 4 women called charmer with dark side

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE – This Sept. 14, 2016, file photo shows missing person fliers for Stacey Stanley that remained posted on a bulletin board in a laundromat in Ashland, Ohio. Shawn Grate is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, in the Ashland, Ohio, killings of Stanley of Greenwich, Ohio, and another woman, and has pleaded not guilty. Authorities say Grate confessed to killing two other women, one in June 2016 and one around 2005, and is charged in the abduction of a woman rescued Sept. 13, 2016, in Ashland, Ohio. (AP Photo/Ann Sanner, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE – This file photo provided by the Ashland County Sheriff Office shows Shawn M. Grate, arrested Sept. 13, 2016, in Ashland, Ohio. Grate is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, in the killings of two women in Ashland, Ohio, and has pleaded not guilty in the case. Authorities say Grate confessed to killing two other women, one earlier in 2016, and one around 2005, and is charged in the abduction of a woman rescued Sept. 13, 2016, in Ashland, Ohio. (Ashland County Sheriff Office/Ashland Times-Gazette via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE – This Sept. 14, 2016, file photo shows police tape around a house partially destroyed by fire in rural Richland County, Ohio, near Mansfield, Ohio. Shawn Grate is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, in the killings of two women in Ashland, Ohio, and has pleaded not guilty. Authorities say Grate confessed to killing another woman in June 2016 at a Richland County, Ohio, house damaged in a fire later that month, and killing a woman around 2005, and he is charged in the abduction of a woman rescued Sept. 13, 2016, in Ashland, Ohio. (AP Photo/Ann Sanner, File) (The Associated Press)

A man linked to the slayings of at least four women in Ohio is described by those who know him as a charmer with a dark side.

Shawn Grate has been charged in two of the killings and the abduction of a third woman rescued by police from a vacant home two weeks ago.

Authorities say the 40-year-old also has confessed to killing two other women, one earlier this year and one around 2005.

Grate is due to be arraigned Thursday in the killings of the two women in Ashland. That's about 60 miles southwest of Cleveland.

He has pleaded not guilty in the case. Messages seeking comment have been left with his attorneys.

Investigators say they're now looking into whether there could be more victims from his past.