Andrus pre-trial hearing set for Monday

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Trial dates for a Van Wert man accused of killing his stepfather in September of 2023 are expected to be established during a hearing on Monday.

Larry Andrus Jr., 49, is scheduled to appear at a pre-trial conference in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court at 2 p.m. Monday. He was originally scheduled to stand trial August 12-14 of last year, but it was postponed after a handful of late motions were filed.

Barring a plea bargain or guilty plea, Andrus will be tried on five felony charges — murder, voluntary manslaughter, two counts of involuntary manslaughter and strangulation.

The charges are connected to the September 30, 2023, death of Roy D. Watts, 59, at his home on S. Vine St.

According to a police report, Andrus and Watts were involved in a verbal argument, followed by some sort of 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.

Andrus was booked into the Bay County Jail and waived extradition back to Ohio. He was transported back to Van Wert County November 29 of last year. During arraignment that same day, he entered a not guilty plea and bond was set at $500,000. Defense attorney Barry Schroeder filed notice last January that Andrus intends to claim self-defense at the trial.

During a pre-trial conference held in November, Schroeder said he was still waiting on a report from a medical examiner hired by the defense, but was expecting the report soon. It’s believed Dragovic’s opinion will differ from that of Van Wert Deputy Coroner Chris Ulrich as to the cause of death in the case.

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.