A 27-year-old Ohio man may spend the rest of his life in prison after brutally killing his 24-year-old girlfriend, beating her head in with a hammer, wrapping her body in plastic, and dumping her in a trash can at a local park named after an iconic fictional voice behind countless children’s stories.
A jury in Stark County convicted Sean Goe on Friday of murder, felonious assault, gross abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence in the death of Raychel Sheridan, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
Goe was also convicted of burglary and grand theft involving a firearm or dangerous ordinance.
Immediately after the verdict was read, Goe’s mother collapsed and screamed, “Oh my God!” “No way!” Goe had almost no reaction, according to courtroom footage posted by Cleveland, Ohio, ABC affiliate WEWS.
According to a news release from the Stark County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a home in the 4100 block of Orchard Dale Drive NW in Plain Township around 12:32 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in reference to a missing woman named Sheridan. She was quickly added to the national missing-persons database.
“While at the scene, Deputies observed a maroon Jeep Liberty, known to be registered to Raychel, traveling on Guilford Ave NW in Plain Township,” according to the news release. “Deputies initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, 26-year-old Sean Goe of Plain Township who then fled on foot.”
Officers from the Canton Police Department apprehended Goe at a homeless shelter on active warrants for burglary, grand theft of a firearm, and domestic violence against the victim early on July 3. He was held on a $1 million bond.
“As a result of the search warrant executed at the apartment of Raychel Sheridan and Sean Goe, evidence was recovered indicating foul play,” according to the police. “Detectives have determined that Sheridan was murdered in the apartment.
On Wednesday, July 3, 2024, at approximately 9:24 a.m., Canton sanitation workers discovered a body believed to be that of Raychel Sheridan in a park in the city’s Southwest area.
The body was discovered at Mother Goose Land, an abandoned theme park on the 400 block of Schroyer Avenue SW that opened in 1956 and closed in the 1980s. The area was revitalized approximately ten years ago and reopened as a public park.
An employee from the Canton Parks Department was emptying garbage when they discovered Sheridan’s body wrapped in plastic inside a trash bin and called 911, according to CBS affiliate WOIO in Shaker Heights.
According to the Canton Repository, prosecutors told jurors that Sheridan received at least 10 blows to the head with the blunt end of a hammer and was beaten so severely that her remains could not be identified when compared to a headshot of the victim. The hammer was reportedly found inside the apartment Goe and Sheridan shared.
A bucket and gloves containing DNA from Goe and Sheridan were also reportedly discovered inside the apartment.
“The only person who had a reason to dump Raychel’s body like a piece of trash in that dumpster in Mother Goose Land is the person who killed her,” Criminal Division Chief Prosecutor Dennis Barr allegedly said during closing arguments. “That person is Sean Goe, the person who is sitting right here.”
Goe’s defense attorney reportedly claimed that investigators assumed Goe was the perpetrator and used the investigation “to prove the assumption, to prove the conclusion, not the other way around.”
Goe is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18, 2024. He is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.
