Bond set at $5 million for Toledoan charged in murders of 2 women

3/10/2010

A Toledo man charged in the deaths of two women appeared in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Wednesday to face murder charges.

Rodney Dean Wahl, Sr., 39, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated murder and one count of murder.

He is charged in the death of Jennifer Shively, 26, who was found Aug. 25 strangled to death and weighted down in an Ottawa County marina as well as the death of Ursula Graves, 42, who died Sept. 11 from a combination of alcohol and heroin.

Judge Linda Jennings set a $5 million bond and scheduled a May 4 trial date. If convicted, Wahl faces up to life in prison.

Wahl was charged March 4 with the crimes, nearly seven months after Ms. Shively's body was found. Authorities believe the two had gotten into an argument prior to Ms. Shively being killed and that Ms. Graves was killed a few weeks later because she was a potential witness in the case.

According to court documents, Wahl released from prison in December, 2008 after spending three years behind bars on a robbery conviction. Prior to that, he was sentenced to four years in prison in 2002 after pleading guilty to four counts of attempted robbery and one count of failing to comply with the order of a police officer.

He was arrested again in November for driving with a suspended license and was incarcerated at the time he was charged in the case.