Accused killer to have hearing

The man accused of killing a Willoughby man in his home has a competency hearing scheduled in Lake County Common Pleas Court in October.

Herbert Beard, 23, is charged with the murder of 58-year-old Sam Pizzuto. Willoughby police found Pizzuto dead inside a firstfloor bedroom of his Arlington Drive home July 9. Police found Pizzuto’s body during a welfare check after he had not been seen

or heard from since July 1.

Beard’s attorney, Cory R. Hinton, filed a motion in late-August asking the court for a competency evaluation.

“While counsel has been able to work with the defendant to some extent, based on some of the defendant’s actions and comments, counsel has begun to develop a good faith belief that because of defendant’s present mental condition, he may be unable of presently assisting in his defense,” Hinton wrote in the motion.

Beard will appear before

Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O’Donnell Oct. 10 for a competency hearing.

Willoughby police learned that Pizzuto’s Dodge Caravan was missing from the home. But detectives eventually located the van and learned that it had been sold to a Cleveland resident by two people, who subsequently fled to Columbus, according to the Willoughby Police Department.

Detectives identified the pair as Beard and 25-yearold Miriah Provitt, and arrest warrants were obtained July 12 for receiving stolen property. Later that same day, Willoughby detectives along with Columbus police and officers

from the U.S. Marshal’s Southern Ohio Violent Task Force found Beard and Provitt on Van Buren Drive in Columbus, and the two were taken into custody without incident.

Beard is facing a murder charge as well as third-degree felony tampering with evidence and fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property. He remains in the Lake County Jail on a $1 million bond.

Provitt is facing a fourth-degree felony receiving stolen property charge. She waived her right to a speedy trial on Aug. 29 according to court records.

Police said Beard and Provitt briefly resided with Pizzuto at the end of June.