LUCAS COUNTY -- The man charged Thursday night in the double murder of a young couple was arraigned in Sylvania Municipal Court on Friday.
A judge read the charges against Samuel Todd Williams in court as the suspect listened via video conference from the Lucas County Jail.
The 24-year-old is accused of murdering 20-year-old Lisa Straub and 21-year-old Johnny Clark during an aggravated burglary in January 2011.
The victims’ bodies were found inside her parents’ Springfield Township home, on Longacre Lane, with their wrists bound and plastic bags pulled over their heads.
Authorities say Straub’s parents were on vacation at the time of the couple’s murder.
During Friday’s arraignment, Williams told the judge he did not have an attorney and had not even "spoken to his mother yet."
The mother of victim Johnny Clark was at Williams' hearing, surrounded by family and friends.
On her way into the hearing, Maytee Vasquez fought back tears telling reporters, "[Williams] is evil…he is evil" and "I hate him. I hate him”.
The judge set Williams bail at $5,000,000 and scheduled another hearing in the case for Monday. As of Friday night, it was still unclear if Williams would be assigned a public attorney.
The accused killer told the judge he did not have a job and, as a student, only had money to pay for school. The parents of 20-year-old Lisa Straub were absent from Friday’s legal proceedings.
A spokesman for the Straub family says they are on vacation, but were notified by police of the arrest on Thursday. In a press conference, held on the Straub’s behalf, James Verbosky said that the family was not provided with details on how Williams was connected to the crime.
Verbosky did confirm the Straub family was told by authorities that Williams was originally brought in on Thursday for questioning on a domestic violence case, but was later also charged in the couple’s murder.
Speaking for the Straub’s, Verbosky also said Lisa’s parents never lost faith that authorities would make an arrest in the case but believe Williams is only one of the people responsible.
"We believe this suspect did not act alone. This person could not have murdered two people. We urge anyone who has more information to come forward. Our family has $20,000 sitting in an account for any more information leading to anymore people involved in this case,” Verbosky said.
Straub's family is also asking the local prosecutor to seek the death penalty in the case.
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