Dad guilty in twins' drowning

11/18/2005

TIFFIN - A Fostoria man has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of his 10-month-old twins, who drowned in August in the bathtub of their home.

Greggory Kleinmark, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon to two charges of involuntary manslaughter in Seneca County Common Pleas Court. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges Oct. 3.

Bryn Rachael and Drew Greggory Kleinmark died Aug. 7 after being left unattended in the tub in their home at 638 Maple St. Kleinmark frantically summoned help just after 6 p.m., reporting to emergency dispatchers that the twins weren't breathing.

On Sept. 19, Dr. Leroy Schroeder, Hancock County coroner, found the deaths to be "accidental due to gross negligence."

Kleinmark told police and prosecutor's investigators that he ran the water for the bath, put the twins in the tub, and then left them alone for at least a half hour while he played a Star Wars video game on his computer and smoked a cigarette, Seneca County Prosecutor Ken Egbert, Jr., said.

The computer room was three rooms away from the bathroom and more than 30 feet away from where the twins were in the bathtub, Mr. Egbert said.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation analyzed the computer and found Kleinmark accessed it to play the game 11 times from 5:07 p.m. through 6:05 p.m. and that it was continuously in progress until it was shut down at 6:09 p.m., two minutes after the 911 call. Kleinmark faces up to 10 years in prison for causing the deaths. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.