Eric Stewart, a Logan County assistant prosecutor, said both prosecutors and Littleton’s attorneys have asked that he be sentenced today to life in prison without a chance for parole. After arriving in Ohio, Stewart said Littleton would be booked into jail and fingerprinted, and will face a hearing early today in Logan County Common Pleas Court.
Littleton disappeared when authorities found the body of Tiffany Brown, 26, of Bellefontaine, who had been stabbed and was discovered buried under a pile of scrap wood in the basement of a home Littleton shared with Brown’s mother.
He is also accused of killing Gladis and Dick Russell, both in their 80s, and dumping their bodies in Georgia and Tennessee, respectively.
Mike Coder, whose wife is a niece of the Russells, said Littleton probably deserved the death penalty for the crimes. But knowing that Littleton would be able to appeal his sentence for more than a decade would have made the situation too difficult for many family members. Knowing Littleton will die in prison serves the same purpose as a death sentence, Coder said.
“The other way, he’s kind of holding us captive, and we’re not going to allow him to do that,” Coder said.
Friends and family members of the Russells are each trying to deal with the situation in their own way, Coder said. But after months of struggling with the murders, the families of the victims can begin to live their lives again knowing Littleton will be in prison.
“I think there will be a real sense of relief that we can go on with our lives, even though there’s going to be a void there,” Coder said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0355.
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