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LISBON -- A jury trial remains set for 9 a.m. May 16 in the aggravated murder case against Nathan Tataseo, who's accused of killing his father in Columbiana in the summer of 2022.
Tataseo, 46, whose last known address was listed as South Elm Street, Columbiana, appeared before Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton for a final status hearing Friday.
One of his defense attorneys, Charley Kidder, said there have been numerous discussions with his client, but "there is no resolution." He's also represented by defense attorney Paul Conn.
County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Weikart, who was accompanied by Assistant Prosecutors Alec Beech and Christopher Weeda, also said there had been discussions about resolving the case, noting "doors have been kept open for a potential plea for several months now."
He explained that the going trend seems to be for defendants to go to trial, which is a defendant's right, but then claiming on appeal that's not what they wanted. He asked to hear from the defendant himself that negotiations are over and that he wants to have a jury hear his case.
Weikart said this isn't a situation where the defendant comes in the day of the trial because of second thoughts and wants to negotiate. He said the "train's leaving the station."
Bickerton explained to Tataseo that he's been offered pleas, but has the right to take his case before a jury, asking him what he wanted to do. He said "yes" when asked if he wanted to go to trial.
Tataseo remains jailed under a $1 million cash or surety bond.
The defendant's father, James E. Tataseo, 76, was found dead at his South Elm Street home in Columbiana on July 1, 2022. The indictment alleges that on June 28, 2022, Nathan Tataseo "did purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the death of James E. Tataseo."
Besides the aggravated murder charge, other charges against Nathan Tataseo include murder, theft and theft from a person in a protected class.
Both the aggravated murder and murder charges are unclassified felonies. The theft and theft from a person in a protected class are fifth-degree felonies. According to the indictment, the theft charges involve a stolen bank card and personal belongings of the victim, James E. Tataseo, who was identified as an elderly person.
Tataseo already served 120 days in the county jail for a falsification charge for lying to investigators about his whereabouts in the timeline of his father's death, claiming he turned in his key to the house and had not had access since June 27, 2022, staying in a nearby wooded area. A search of his belongings at the campsite found by investigators turned up the keys to both the house and the vehicles at the residence.
mgreier@mojonews.com