3 held in fatal stabbing of Point Place man, 30

Toledo police say friends solicited, planned murder

6/21/2014

Roy Cerveny

The stabbing death of a 30-year-old Point Place man was planned and solicited, police said.9bb03d11-3c75-4d50-9d81-ca22c8e30fa2It was almost 4 a.m. May 23 when Thomas Przybysz returned home from work. Near the front porch, Mr. Przybysz was met by someone who had been lying in wait; he was stabbed several times by John Haugh, 38, of 5048 Tappan Ave., police allege. The victim died about an hour later at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center.

Haugh, Scott Warnka, 30, of 2907 117th St. and Roy Cerveny, 30, of 3224 138th St. were charged and arrested Friday for their suspected roles in Mr. Przybysz's death. Haugh is charged with aggravated murder and murder. Warnka and Cerveny are charged with murder. The three are to be arraigned Monday in Toledo Municipal Court.

In affidavits, police Detective Gregory Mattimore alleges that Warnka “did organize, plan, and solicit the murder” of the victim and that Cerveny “did organize, plan, and assist.” The suspects were, according to court records, identified by witnesses.

“There was obviously some planning going on,” said police Sgt. Joe Heffernan. “That's why the case took a little longer because there were multiple people involved.”

In addition to the three murder suspects, Charlotte Lindsley, 61, Haugh's mother, will be arraigned Monday on an assault charge. Police allege that she assaulted Toledo police Sgt. Kevin Korsog while he was trying to arrest her son Friday morning.

Attempts to reach families of the suspects were not successful.

Police described the suspects as “friends” and said the suspects were “friends” with Mr. Przybysz. They declined to comment on a motive and also did not comment on whether the murder weapon was recovered.

Marcia Przybysz, the victim’s mother, said detectives came to her Point Place home Friday morning to notify the family of arrests. She said she only knew Warnka and thought he was a friend of her son and knew the two had spent time together.

She did not know why someone would have killed her son.

“Nothing could be bad enough to kill somebody, take somebody’s life like they did,” Mrs. Przybysz said. “ … If you knew my son, you knew he didn’t really have any enemies and he was a friend to everyone. … I don’t know how anybody could do something like this. I really don’t.”

Two days before Mr. Przybysz was killed, Warnka was arrested by Toledo police after he allegedly sold cocaine to an undercover detective at Chrysler’s Toledo Assembly complex, according to court records. On May 22, Warnka was arraigned in Toledo Municipal Court and released on his own recognizance.

Mr. Przybysz worked as an assembly worker for Mobis North America, an on-site Chrysler supplier that builds the Jeep Wrangler chassis.

Mrs. Przybysz said her son worked for Mobis for about a year.

In April, Mr. Przybysz was arrested at a central Toledo McDonald’s where he spent 20 minutes trying to order food for himself and his 8-year-old daughter, who was also at the restaurant. Police said he had heroin, Xanax, and suboxone on him.

Mrs. Przybysz said her son previously struggled with drug addiction and went to rehab. Although her son relapsed, when told he had to pick drugs or his daughter, “he always picked his daughter,” she said.

“Tom wasn’t an angel and I’ll admit to it,” she said. “... ‘‍You’ve got to straighten up … you’re going to lose something.’ That’s what we always told him. We never thought it would be his life.”

Contact Taylor Dungjen at tdungjen@theblade.com, or 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @taylordungjen.