City man’s murder trial set to begin soon

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Barring a guilty plea or a continuance, Van Wert County’s first murder trial in seven years will take place in mid-August.

The charges against Larry Andrus Jr., 48, are connected to the September 30, 2023, death of Roy D. Watts, 59, at his home on South Vine Street.

According to a police report, Andrus and Watts were involved in a verbal argument, followed by a physical altercation. The report stated that 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 then 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.

Larry Andrus Jr. is scheduled to stand trial August 12-14 in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court on charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter, two counts of involuntary manslaughter and strangulation. Van Wert County Clerk of Courts Cindy Mollenkopf confirmed that notices were sent out to prospective jurors last week.

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.

Schroeder filed notice in January that Andrus intends to claim self-defense at the trial.

The murder charge is an unclassified felony. The voluntary manslaughter charge and two involuntary manslaughter charges are all first-degree felonies, and the strangulation charge and felonious assault charges are second-degree felonies.

Van Wert County’s last murder trial occurred in September 2017. A jury convicted Christopher Peters of aggravated murder, felonious assault and endangering children, all tied to the death of a 15-month-old boy (see story here).

Another murder trial is pending in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.

Ryan Houser, 38, of Rockford was originally scheduled to stand trial the week of April 15 but it was delayed and a new trial date has yet to be established. Houser is charged with aggravated murder, an unclassified felony; murder, an unclassified felony; possessing a weapon under disability, a third-degree felony, and tampering with evidence, also a third-degree felony. The charges are tied to the September 2023 fatal shooting of Houser’s girlfriend, Barbara Ganger, 43, of Van Wert.