Man, 29, found guilty of murder, 6 other charges

Jury deliberated less than 3 hours before returning verdicts

2/9/2017

BOWLING GREEN — A jury in Wood County Common Pleas Court today rejected a Woodville man's account of being “out of his mind” when he drove into a railroad construction crew in 2013 — killing one man and injuring two others.

Cody Rickard, 29, was found guilty today of murder and two counts each of aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, and felonious assault for the Oct. 28, 2013, crash near Bradner that killed Paul Castle, 34, of Paintsville, Ky., and injured Jim Conley, 58, of Findlay and Luis Knott III, 58, of Banner, Ky.

The jury deliberated less than three hours before returning its verdicts against Rickard, who took the stand in his defense this morning. He had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Wood County Common Pleas Judge Alan Mayberry immediately sentenced Rickard to life in prison with parole eligibility after 29 years.

It was the same sentence Judge Mayberry imposed in 2014 when Rickard was found guilty of the same charges.

He was granted a new trial last year by Ohio's 6th District Court of Appeals, which concluded that Rickard's original defense attorney failed to investigate his client's mental state at the time and did not even seek an evaluation to determine if he was competent to stand trial.