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Old February 14th, 2007 #13
Steve Lillywhite
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Defendant Carlton Love Jr., center, is flanked by his attorneys,
Bernard R. Davis, left, and Robert H. Whitney during his hearing
in Morrow County Common Pleas Court.




Louisiana man pleads guilty in Ohio murder

Girlfriend urged him to shoot her dad, defendant tells judge

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Holly Zachariah
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

MOUNT GILEAD, Ohio — The big bear of a man looked the judge in the eye and recounted, in a soft yet steady voice, how he had shot a sleeping man in the back of the head.

Carlton Love Jr. admitted that he stalked into Mark Shrader’s Cardington bedroom on March 23 and killed him with Shrader’s own handgun. And now the 20-year-old, who avoided the death penalty with a guilty plea yesterday, will spend at least 25 years in prison for aggravated murder.

But Love’s change of heart in Morrow County Common Pleas Court might not be the end of this story.

Love said yesterday that he was told to kill Shrader, and that he had done it out of love.

The tale began in January 2006, when Love came from Louisiana to Ohio to stay with Shrader’s then-17-year-old daughter, Katie. Love and Katie had an Internet romance going.

Mark Shrader, 44, picked up Love at the bus station and allowed him to move into the family’s home in Cardington, about 35 miles north of Columbus.

Things went bad quickly.

Relatives say Mark Shrader eventually wanted Love out, and that he and his daughter fought about it. Love said his girlfriend told him to kill her father after a heated argument in March.

"I was madly in love with Katie and I would have done anything for her," he said. "She urged me to do it, and I went in and shot him."

The ordeal has fractured the family. Many of Mark Shrader’s adult children sat on one side of the courtroom yesterday, and his widow and two youngest daughters, ages 7 and 10, sat in the middle.

Katie Shrader, now 18 and nearly nine months pregnant with another man’s baby, sat in the back. Although courtroom security was tight, with at least five deputies in the room all the time, a deputy appeared to be guarding her through most of the hearing, though it was unclear why.

Katie Shrader was the one to call 911 to report that she and Love had returned from a walk and found her father dead. She already has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, obstruction of justice, in the case.

Love originally had been charged with kidnapping and felonious assault, apparently for threatening Katie Shrader to go along with his story the day of the murder. But those charges were dropped last week, the court bailiff said.

Immediately after the hearing yesterday, Katie Shrader was rushed by ambulance from the courthouse to a local hospital. Someone said she was having contractions. A deputy rode with her.

Mark Shrader’s widow, Dawn, said she believes her stepdaughter was involved in her husband’s murder. She yelled out in court, "She ordered it done. She’ll get hers."

Katie Shrader’s sister, who did not give her name but apparently was not Mark Shrader’s daughter, defended her in court. She said her sister "doesn’t have the mentality to do this."

Assistant Morrow County Prosecutor Brent Yager would not say whether the investigation remains open.

No matter what happens next, however, the pain for the Shrader family is far from over.

"There is no forgiveness that runs in my blood for you," Shrader’s niece, Tiffany Watts, said to Love. "He took you in as his son even when we all told him not to. He clothed you, he fed you, he took care of you.

"As long as I’m alive, I’ll make sure you never make parole."

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news...213-D1-03.html