Judge denies plea withdrawal request

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Newly filed court documents indicate a Rockford man’s request to withdraw his no contest plea to a local murder charge has been denied by a judge.

According a judgement entry dated Thursday, May 29, Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Judge Martin D. Burchfield denied the request made by Ryan Houser, the man accused of fatally shooting and killing his girlfriend in Van Wert in late summer of 2023. In a separate assignment notice dated Friday, May 30, Judge Burchfield scheduled sentencing for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 24, and ordered all parties, including the victim’s advocate, be notified of the decision and sentencing date. Both documents were filed with the Van Wert County Clerk of Court’s Office.

In March, Houser entered a no contest plea to a single count of murder, an unclassified felony, and was found guilty by Judge Burchfield. In exhange for the plea, three other charges – aggravated murder, an unclassified felony, possessing a weapon under disability, and tampering with evidence, both third degree felonies, were dismissed by the court. Sentencing was then scheduled for May 7, but as that hearing began, Houser proclaimed his innocence and made the request to withdraw his plea.

“We had a trial scheduled, everyone was prepared and ready to go, a plea was entered and now we have this last minute assertion of actual innocence after no contest, so we need to deal with this,” Judge Burchfield said after Houser made the request. “The Supreme Court requires us to deal with it and we need to be prepared to on May 22. There will be no continuances.”

Days after the request, defense attorney Rexford filed paperwork citing a prior case where a defendant was able withdraw his no contest plea and Van Wert County Prosecutor Eva Yarger submitted documents refuting Houser’s request. A hearing was held as scheduled on May 22 and both sides presented brief oral arguments. Lt. Rob Black, a detective with the Van Wert Police Department took the stand and most of his testimony concerned the estimated time of shooting death of the victim, Barbara Ganger, and a subsequent autopsy. Rexford has previously said Houser has an alibi during the suspected time of Ganger’s death.

Afterward, Judge Burchfield said he would take the matter under advisement and told both sides to prepare for a June 24 pre-trial hearing in the event Houser’s request was granted, or sentencing if the request was denied.

Houser is facing a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life without the possibility of an early release on a single count of murder, an unclassified felony.

The charges are tied to the shooting death of Ganger. Her body was discovered on September 4, 2023, after the Van Wert Police Department was dispatched to do a welfare check at her residence at Van Wert West Apartments on W. Main St. Officers discovered she had been shot twice, once in the stomach area and once in the head.

Houser was arrested and jailed in Mercer County four days later on unrelated charges of having a weapon under disability. Court records show he recently entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to time served.

He was indicted by a Van Wert County grand jury November 2, 2023, and pleaded not guilty during his arraignment several days later. He has been housed in the Van Wert County Correctional Facility in lieu of $1 million bond since his arrest.

Houser was originally scheduled to stand trial in April of 2024 and again in April of this year, but the case was delayed multiple times by two changes of legal counsel, a suppression hearing, a lengthy list of motions and his plea withdrawal request.