Defendant in triple slaying dies in jump from court balcony

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man set for trial this week for an arson fire that killed a girl he was accused of raping and her grandparents has jumped to his death from a fourth-floor balcony at a courthouse.

The Youngstown Vindicator reports a reporter from the newspaper watched 48-year-old Robert Seman Jr. launch himself Monday morning from the balcony inside the Mahoning County Courthouse in Youngstown.

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Prosecutors say Seman torched the family's home shortly before he was set for trial on the rape charges. Police discovered burns on Seman's body after his arrest over the gasoline-fueled arson.

Seman faced the death penalty if he'd been convicted of aggravated murder charges in the March 2015 deaths of 10-year-old Corrine Gump, 63-year-old William Schmidt and 61-year-old Judith Schmidt.