Wahl bond set at $5M

TOLEDO, ohio (WUPW) - Bond was set for Rodney Wahl, who allegedly killed Jennifer Shively and Ursula Graves in August and September 2009.

Wahl entered not guilty pleas in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Wednesday afternoon to two counts of aggravated murder and one count of murder.

His bond was set at $5 million and a pretrial hearing was set for April 13. The judge also set a May 4 trial date.

Wahl was indicted by a Lucas County grand jury March 4.

Ottawa County and Toledo police detectives said the 29-year-old Wahl strangled 26-year-old Jennifer Shively of Toledo in late August 2009. Ms. Shively's body was found bound and weighted down with weights at Lamberjacks Marina in the Village of Oak Harbor.

Toledo police detectives said Wahl is responsible for the death of Ursula Graves. Detectives said Ms. Graves' body was found on Sept. 11, 2009, in an apartment complex on Graham Street. Police initially thought she had died from a drug overdose.

Ms. Graves, 42, was a mother of six children.

Detectives, though, don't believe Ms. Shively and Ms. Graves knew each other. The lead detective in the cold case, Det. Clark, said Ms. Graves was potentially a witness in the Shively investigation.

Wahl had been serving a six-month prison sentence at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio in Stryker for driving without a license. Once indicted, he was transferred to the Lucas County Jail.

Graves' son, 22-year-old Greg Graves, said Wednesday evening that he knows Wahl killed his mother. He also knows why.

Greg Graves believes his mother simply knew too much. He wasn't at all surprised when her boyfriend was charged with her murder.

He's in the Ottawa County Justice Center in Port Clinton for a parole violation.

"My mom doesn't do that," Greg said. "My mom left my dad because of drugs a long time ago. She's not like that."

Law enforcement discovered Ms. Graves was actually murdered and said Wahl shot her up with a lethal dose of drugs. Her son said he was suspicious of Wahl all along.

"I seen signs," he said. "I didn't like him from the get go and I told her she wasn't allowed to talk to this guy."

Greg said he looks back of the circumstances of his mom's death and things started to add up. Ms. Graves was questioned after Ms. Shively's body was discovered at Lamberjacks Marina.

"She seemed like she was scared," Greg said. "A couple of weeks before that I recall her saying if something happened to me (she said) I want you to know I love you."

Detectives said Ms. Graves was a possible witness in the Shivley case.

Although Wahl's bond was set at $5 million, no amount of money can comfort Graves' son.

"I'm glad he's put away," Greg said. "It's wonderful, but she was everything to me. I don't know what I'll do with out her."

Greg Graves has been in the Ottawa County Jail for about two weeks for a parole violation. A judge is considering releasing him. If he is released, Greg said he plans to attend every one of Wahl's court appearances.

FOX Toledo News reporter Heather Miller contributed to this report