Johnny S. Clarke & Lisa Straub- young Ohio couple murdered

[Mustang]

great day today. straubs and their family and friends gathered at a restaurant near the courthouse at 9am to wait for news. we were told we'd only have about 10 minutes to get to court once the verdict came in. they live 20 minutes away so they waited last night until after 9pm when the jury was sequestered. when the call came about 10am i've never seen 15-20 people clear out of a restaurant so fast. as we got to the courthouse more kept coming. each of the victim families was limited to 5 seats in the courtroom but only 3 members of the clark family were there and they graciously offered 2 seats. john clark didn't attend and i suspect after yesterday couldn't have handled any morr bad news. the remaining 20 or so straub supporters were taken into an office that court staff hastily arramged for us to view proceedings on closed circuit. unfortunately the audio wouldn't work so we stuck for about 20 minutes trying to read body language or see a reaction. in the outer office behind were a dozen or so people who work in the building. we thought that det. kozak reacted positively but weren't sure. williams never moved but we had no idea if the verdicts had been read yet. we were feeling optimistic but not positive when one of those in the outer office, who are allowed cell phones in the building, yelled to us that the toledo blade website on his phone said GUILTY! we went crazy and so did all the strangers. everybody was bawling like babies. they led us to a conference room where they were to bring the straubs to meet with prosecutors, but before we got there we heard the elevator ding behind us and we all took off in that direction and met the straub family as they emerged. as soon as they saw us, and us them, uncontrolable tears came again as everybody hugged everybody and no one wanted to let go. we finally made our way to the conference room but none of us could stop crying. soon the detectives and prosecutors were heading through the door and the room erupted with applause for our new heroes. each of them were visibly emotional as well, with one veteran, battle-hardened prosecutor unable to speak until he collected himself. the straubs told me later that it meant a lot to them that he had become so invested emotionally. after being briefed on the legal realities of what had just transpired and what was yet to come. jeff straub told me, "i think maybe we'll go home and relax at the pool. haven't done that in a while." i think that was a great idea. rip lisa and johnny. we'll always love you lisa and your mom, dad and sister will never give up on seeking justice for you until everyone involved is held accountable.

p.s. someone asked in an earlier post if those of us mockers inside the courtrooms reporting back here had taken notes. are you fucking kidding me?!? i'm older than dirt's son. theres a weird kind of genetic alzheimers that goes with that. i have to check my driver's license to remember how old i am. so yes...i took notes. pages and pages of notes. have no idea where i left the notebook last, but i'm sure it will turn up eventually. chip off the ol' block.