A Youngstown man facing three counts of murder apparently committed suicide by jumping off a fourth-floor courthouse balcony Monday morning.
Robert Seman, Jr. was scheduled for trial in a 2015 fire that killed a 10-year-old girl he was accused of raping, as well as her grandparents.
Prosecutors say Seman torched the family's home shortly before he was set for trial on the rape charges. Seman faced the death penalty if he'd been convicted of aggravated murder charges in the deaths of 10-year-old Corrine Gump and her grandparents, William and Judith Schmidt.
The Youngstown Vindicator reports one of its reporters watched the 48-year-old Seman launch himself from the balcony inside the Mahoning County Courthouse this morning.
Posts on social media show a sheet-covered body lying on the courthouse rotunda.
An assistant prosecutor says Seman knew the evidence against him, and called his suicide “very telling” about his guilt.
