One unresolved local murder case remains

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

A recent plea bargain in a local murder case leaves just one other Van Wert County murder case from 2023 unresolved.

Larry Andrus Jr., 49, is scheduled to stand trial May 12-16 in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court on several felony charges – murder, voluntary manslaughter, two counts of involuntary manslaughter and strangulation. A final pre-trial hearing in the case is scheduled for April 16.

The charges are connected to the September 30, 2023, death of Andrus’s stepfather, Roy D. Watts, 59, at his home on S. Vine St. According to a Van Wert Police Department report, Andrus and Watts were involved in a verbal argument, followed by some sort of 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, 2023, but fled the area. He was arrested six days later by U.S. Marshals in Bay County, Florida. The arrest was made on a Greyhound bus that was traveling from Pennsylvania to Florida, where Andrus was traveling for an interview at a tattoo shop.

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 his arraignment that same day, he entered a not guilty plea and bond was set at $500,000. He’s remained in jail since his return to Van Wert County.

Defense attorney Barry Schroeder filed notice in January of 2024 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.

Andrus was originally scheduled to stand trial August 12-14 of last year, but it was postponed after a handful of late motions were filed by Schroeder. Court records show no new motions have been filed since January of this year.