Indiana teen charged in Grube case

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

An Indiana teenager has been charged with 27 felony counts, including first-degree felony counts of aggravated murder, robbery and burglary, in connection with the 2011 murders of two rural Fort Recovery residents.

Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey announced this morning that charges have been filed against Trevin M. Sanders, 18, of Union City, Ind., in the deaths of Robert Grube, 70, and his daughter, Colleen, 37, on November 30, 2011. Both the elder Grube and his daughter, who was also his caretaker, were tied with duct tape and then killed inside Robert Grube’s house, located three miles east of Fort Recovery.

Sanders is currently incarcerated in the Indiana state prison at Michigan City, Ind., but the sheriff said the case has now been turned over to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, which would soon commence efforts to have the teen extradited to Ohio.

Because Sanders was a juvenile at the time the murders were committed, he will first have to appear in Mercer County Juvenile Court for an amenability hearing to determine whether he should be tried as an adult. If that determination is made, the case would then be brought before the Mercer County Grand Jury to seek indictments against Sanders.

Also included in the charges against Sanders are several specifications that the teenager used a firearm in the commission of the offenses, which, if he is found guilty, would add a mandatory three years to any sentence handed down against him. Firearms specifications would be served consecutively to any felony conviction against Sanders.

During a news conference this morning, Sheriff Grey noted that his department is continuing its investigation and added that more charges could be forthcoming against others who could be involved in the Grube case.

The Mercer County sheriff thanked a number of people involved in the investigation, including law enforcement agencies in Ohio and Indiana, the Ohio attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service.

Sheriff Grey noted that 179 court-ordered subpoenas and search warrants were executed during the investigation, while 329 interviews were conducted with 268 individuals in connection with the case.

The sheriff explained to the media that the investigation has been continuous over the 16 months that has elapsed since the murders took place.

“One of the things I want to stress during that 16 months is this case has never been cold,” Sheriff Grey said.

In addition to charges against Sanders, deputies arrested Bryant L. Rhoades, 22, also of Union City, on a charge of obstructing justice, a third-degree felony offense. Rhoades is currently incarcerated in the Mercer County Correctional Facility.