An Execution Date For James Dean Worley has been set for 2025 in the state of Ohio
Execution Date For James Dean Worley
James Worley, of Delta, Ohio, was convicted of the 2016 abduction and murder of Sierah Joughin in July of 2016. He was sentenced to death.
In July 1990, James Worley ambushed a young woman, Robin Gardner, while she was riding her bike in Whitehouse, Ohio. He struck her bike with his truck. He quickly got out of his vehicle and approached the young lady who now lay in a ditch. He struck her on the head and placed her in handcuffs. He then held a screwdriver to her throat and threatened to kill her if she screamed out. He then tried to force her into the truck.
Robin however fought valiantly for her life. And, when a passing motorist came by, she found her escape when the driver stopped and rescued her.
James Worley was ultimately arrested and convicted on abduction charges and sentenced to 4 – 10 years in prison. He served only three years in prison for the crime.
Sierra Joughin
At approximately 6:45 PM on July 19, 2016, Sierra Joughin was riding her bicycle home from her boyfriend’s house, while he rode alongside her in his motorcycle. They parted ways near County Road 6 near Metamora, Ohio in Fulton County. When Sierra did not arrive home that evening and her boyfriend reported to her family that he couldn’t reach her by cell phone, they contacted authorities.
Later that same evening, Sierra’s bicycle was discovered several rows into a cornfield near where she was last seen. Signs of a struggle where obvious and motorcycle tracks were etched through the corn field.
Several items that did not belong to Joughin were discovered near her bicycle, including a pair of men’s sunglasses, a screwdriver and a box of automotive fuses. A passing driver also recovered a motorcycle helmet with a bloody hand print on its surface.
When officers were canvassing the neighborhood after Joughin’s disappearance, James Worley, who lived less than 2 miles away, told them his motorcycle had broken down in the area and that he had lost items of the same description as those at the crime scene. He also stated that he had discovered two bicycles in the corn, one of which he took and would have his fingerprints on it. He commented that he “didn’t steal anything nor kill anyone.”
Another witness in the area described seeing a passenger van driving at a high speed through the area, and provided a license plate number to the authorities. The license plate was to Worley, who had been convicted and sentenced in 1990 for assaulting and attempting to kidnap another woman, who he knocked off her bicycle. Based on this information, investigators obtained a search warrant for Worley’s property.
The Barn
Upon searching a barn on James Worley’s property, authorities discovered a hidden room, where they found several pairs of women’s underwear, restraints and a carpet-lined freezer stained with blood. They also found blood on Worley’s motorcycle, as well as “zip-tie” restraints and a ski mask in his truck. Joughin’s DNA was found on a piece of duct tape and on an inflatable mattress both found in the barn.
Investigators found recording devices all over the property, and concluded from cell phone records that James Worley was at the scene of the abduction for nearly two hours during the time Sierra was missing. They also discovered that Worley had stated to a court-mandated therapist, after his previous conviction, that he “learned from each abduction he had done and the next one he was going to bury”.
James Worley was arrested on charges of abduction on July 22, three days after Sierra Joughin’s disappearance. Despite an exhaustive search of the barn and farm, neither Joughin nor any human remains were found there.
On the same day Worley was arrested, Sierra Joughin’s remains were discovered in a shallow grave in a field along County Road 7 in Delta, Ohio, just a few miles southwest of Worley’s property. She had been hogtied (meaning her wrists were handcuffed and bound to her ankles behind her back), a large plastic ball gag (sex toy) was still in her mouth and she was wearing an adult diaper. Cause of death was asphyxiation, caused by the ball gag. There was no evidence of sexual assault.
James Dean Worley was found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Sierra Joughlin and sentenced to death.
The execution date for James Dean Worley is scheduled on May 20, 2025.
source: crescent-news | toledoblade | dreamindemon | wikipedia
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