True Crime
The Saga of “Jane Doe”
A gruesome sexual assault leads to the conviction of a serial killer
For three days, a woman known in the indictments that would follow only as “Jane Doe” had been bound to a bed as a sex slave in the Ashland, Ohio house where Shawn Grate had been holding her captive. In an act of desperation, she waited until Grate fell asleep and managed to call 911 for help. Much to her relief, her call was answered, and Ashland police arrived to rescue her from her dire situation. Grate claimed that he had no plans to kill her and that they were going to get married instead.
The discovery of “Jane Doe” was only the beginning of what police would learn about Shawn Gate during the searches of where he was living and interviews that took place in the days that followed, turning up almost a half dozen victims who had not been as fortunate as the rescued woman who brought this serial killer’s reign to an end.
