The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Twice convicted man to be released
Former Willoughby Hills resident takes plea deal in Willowick man’s death
Nathaniel Brown has spent five years, seven months and 26 days in prison for his role in the 2011 murder of 21-year-old Willowick resident William Andrew Fayne Putzbach.
On Dec. 12, Brown learned he will soon be a free man.
Brown, a 27-year-old former Willoughby Hills resident, was convicted by two different juries in Putzbach’s death.
His third trial was scheduled for Jan. 17 in Lake County Common Pleas Court.
Instead, Brown opted to accept a deal to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
He then was immediately sentenced to five years in prison – with credit for time served — by Lake County Common Pleas Judge Richard L. Collins Jr.
“Although I maintain my innocence, I’m well aware of the risks of going through another trial and the risks of a 15-to-life sentence if I lose,” Brown said. “This plea that’s been offered to me is my best available option.”
Brown pleaded guilty by way of Alford v. North Carolina, which means he does not admit guilt, but acknowledges the evidence against him.
Although he faced a maximum penalty of 11 years in prison with the plea, prosecutors and defense attorney Matthew Bangerter jointly recommended the judge sentence Brown to time served.
“He’s been convicted twice. He wants to avoid life in prison,” Bangerter said.
Chief Assistant Lake County Prosecutor Karen Kowall said the plea will bring some closure at last to the victim’s family. Fred Putzbach, the victim’s father, said he was relieved to have some finality to the case
but still has unanswered questions.
“Nathaniel, I still will never understand why you did nothing to help or report this crime,” Putzbach said. “I will always see you as a coward. Good luck with yourself. You know what happened.”
The victim was choked with a chain and beaten with a claw hammer on April 10, 2011, in the parking lot of the Willoughby Hills Towers apartment complex during a marijuana deal gone bad. His body was found bound and stuffed in the trunk of his car.
Brown lived in the complex at the time and was inside the car when Putzbach was killed, but he has always maintained his innocence. Brown’s grandmother, Sharon Yaworski of Mentor, said her grandson will live with his mother in Erie, Pennsylvania, once he’s released in a few days.
“I feel elated,” Yaworski said. “I feel he has more than paid for his conduct in the case because he was not a primary person involved.”
She added that she is hopeful for Brown’s future because he took many steps in prison to better himself and improve his education.
Yaworski offered her condolences to the victim’s family after the hearing.
“Sorry is not a significant word,” she said.
Brown was first convicted of aggravated murder and 13 other counts in November 2011 following a jury trial.
In 2013, the charges were overturned after the 11th District Court of Appeals found he suffered prejudice that unfairly affected the outcome of the trial.
During a February 2014 retrial, Brown was convicted on one count each of murder and gross abuse of a corpse and acquitted on another 11 counts. After the 11th District later reversed the murder conviction in the second case and vacated the abuse of corpse conviction, prosecutors appealed to the
state’s highest court.
The Ohio Supreme Court recently declined to hear the case, so it was sent back to Lake County again.
This time, Brown was to be retried on just one count — murder. If convicted, Brown would have faced an automatic sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
Brown originally was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. At his 2014 re-sentencing, Collins sentenced Brown to the new maximum penalty of life in prison with parole eligibility in 16 years.
Co-defendants Kyle Basinger and Ron Shirer pleaded guilty and are serving life sentences. Shirer is eligible for parole after serving 20 years.
It is undisputed that the three defendants sat waiting in Brown’s car for Putzbach to make the drug transaction.
Basinger wanted to rob him of money in his bank account by forcing him to give up his Personal Identification Number.
When the victim arrived, the co-defendants all got into Putzbach’s car — Shirer sat in the front passenger seat, Basinger in the backseat driver’s side and Brown in the backseat passenger side.
Brown told police Basinger unexpectedly looped a chain around the victim’s neck and beat Putzbach’s head with a hammer.
However, prosecutors argued other evidence placed the hammer in Brown’s hands and that a hammer found in Brown’s hallway closet contained DNA belonging to both Brown and the victim.
Prosecutors called an expert to the stand who testified it was more likely than not that Brown was the person in the car who swung the hammer that killed Putzbach. However, the appellate court determined the expert’s opinion was not reliable.
Brown was 22 when the case began and had no prior criminal record.
He is not allowed to appeal the sentence unless it’s contrary to law.
Collins has ordered him to pay for the victim’s funeral expenses, plus court costs.