Andrus in court on motions request

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

A man accused of fatally strangling another man, then fleeing the area appeared in court for a motion session on Monday.

Larry Andrus Jr., 48, is charged with murder, an unclassified felony;  voluntary manslaughter, a first degree felony; two counts of involuntary manslaughter, first degree felonies; strangulation, a second degree felony, and felonious assault, also a second degree felony.

The charges are tied to the September, 2023, death of Roy D. Watts, 59, at a home on S. Vine St. According to a police report, Andrus and Watts were involved in a verbal argument, followed by a physical altercation. Andrus was interviewed by Van Wert Police shortly after the incident, along with at least one other witness to the altercation. He was indicted by a grand jury on November 2, but fled the area.

He was arrested November 8 by U.S. Marshals in Bay County, Florida. According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, he was traveling on a Greyhound bus from Pennsylvania and was scheduled to arrive at a Bay County tattoo shop for an interview. Once the bus was identified, members of the Florida Caribbean Regional Task Force, Panama City Division, pulled it over and arrested Andrus without incident.

Andrus was booked into the Bay County Jail and waived extradition back to Ohio. He was transported back to Van Wert County November 29. During arraignment that same day, he entered a not guilty plea and bond was set at $500,000. He’s represented by attorney Barry E. Schroeder of Ottawa.

During Monday’s hearing in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Judge Martin Burchfield heard arguments about the admissibility of statements made by Andrus’s mother, Glendora Andrus to police on two separate occasions – October 1 and October 6, when, according to court records, she recanted her statement made on October 1. She has since passed away.

There was also a motion dealing with jury instructions concerning presumptive guilt and Andrus fleeing the jurisdiction.

Andrus scheduled to stand trial August 12-14.