THOMAS and STEVEN COONROD - 4 and 3 yo - Greenfield OH

Wesley Coonrod is being held on $1 million bond for two counts of felony child endangerment. He will go before a judge in Greenfield for a pretrial hearing Monday morning.

GREENFIELD, Ohio -- A judge has denied a change of venue request for the trial of a Highland County man accused of setting a fire that killed his two little boys.

Wesley Coonrod, of Greenfield, asked for his trial to be moved from Highland County, but a judge denied the request on Monday.

Coonrod, 42, is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, arson and child endangering after a fire ripped through his home in March and killed his four-year-old son, Thomas and his three-year-old son, Stephen.

Prosecutors allege he set a fire in the family’s Lafayette Street house on March 7.

Police say officers found Coonrod drunk outside of his burned home.

A neighbor said he saw the fire and tried to help, but Wesley wouldn't tell him where the boys were right away. Coonrod eventually told them the children were in a back bedroom, but by the time firefighters entered the room, the boys were already deceased.

A judge last month issued a gag order for the case until the trial begins October 4.

If convicted, Coonrod could be sentenced to death.

Jury selection is scheduled to last throughout this week in Highland County Common Pleas Court in the capital murder trial of a Greenfield man accused in the death of his two children.
Wesley Coonrod, 42, is facing a pair of capital aggravated murder charges, along with charges of aggravated arson and child endangering tied to a March 7 fire at a Lafayette Street duplex in which the family was living. When investigators arrived on the scene, they found Coonrod walking around apparently drunk outside the burning building and neighbors attempting to gain access to the structure to find Coonrod's sons, Steven, 3, and Thomas, 4. The smoke proved too thick for the neighbors to enter.Firefighters, once they were able to gain entry, found the two boys in their bedroom suffering from burns. They died later at Greenfield Area Medical Center from smoke inhalation.The front and back doors of the home had been locked, Greenfield Police Chief Tim Hester said in an interview after the incident.In May, assistant state public defender William Mooney, representing Coonrod, requested a change in venue because of extensive media coverage of the case and online chat room posts he feared would prejudice potential jurors against his client. The request was denied.During jury selection, the defense and prosecuting attorneys are reviewing questionnaires from the more than 300 potential jurors and conducting interviews of those being considered to be among the 12 jurors and six alternates who eventually will be selected to hear the case.Because it is a capital murder case, some of the questions pertain to potential jurors' thoughts on the death penalty.The trial itself is scheduled to begin Monday morning, but that potentially could be moved up if a jury is seated earlier than expected.

A jury has found a Highland County father guilty on two charges in connection with a fatal fire that killed his two sons. But jurors were deadlocked on the most serious charges against him.Wesley Coonrod was found guilty Monday on two counts of child endangering. The jury said it was deadlocked on two charges of aggravated murder, two counts of murder and one count of arson in connection with the March 7 deaths of his two sons, 4-year-old Thomas and 3-year-old Steven.Jurors met with the judge at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday to say that one member of the jury was showing bias toward the defendant and admitted to being exhausted and unable to think clearly.Wright said jurors were then sent back to the hotel where they are sequestered and were told to resume deliberating at 8:30 a.m. on Monday.The judge indicated that Coonrod could be retried on the other five charges, but it still remained unclear if that would happen.Family members said they are not looking forward to another trial."I don't know how much more I can take," said Bonnie Elliott, grandmother of Coonrod's sons. "The worst part of it is the kids aren't going to rest in peace. You'd think that's what they'd want."Elliott said she didn't know at first whether Coonrod was capable of killing his sons. But she said that after sitting through the trial, she's convinced."He did it. There's no ifs, ands, or buts. He's guilty in my book," she said.A sentencing hearing on the two convictions was tentatively scheduled for Oct. 15. Coonrod will remain in jail until he is sentenced.