Liske pleads guilty to triple homicide

(UPDATED 2 a.m. Saturday) William "BJ" Liske pleaded guilty Friday morning to three counts of aggravated murder for the Halloween slayings of his father, stepmother and stepbrother. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty and instead recommended Liske be sentenced to life without parole. Liske, 25, murdered his father, William Liske, 53, stepmother Susan Liske, 46, and stepbrother Derek Griffin, 23, as they slept inside their Benton Township home. He bludgeoned Griffin with both sides of a claw hammer and shot his father five times with a .22-caliber gun, prosecutors said. He then raped Susan before shooting her three times. Family and friends cried as Liske signed the plea agreement in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court Judge Bruce Winters' courtroom.Winters repeatedly asked him if he understood the impact of his admission — it allowed him to avoid a trial, though he can appeal the sentencing portion of the case. Liske was scarcely audible as he answered "yes" to most of the judge's questions. He closed his eyes momentarily after signing the forms admitting his guilt.Family and friends continued to cry as Ottawa County prosecutor Mark Mulligan talked of the murders.The gruesome deaths were first discovered at about 2 p.m. Oct. 31, when Liske's 16-year-old stepbrother, Devon Griffin, arrived at the family's Benton Township home. Devon had stayed at his father's home the night prior, which likely saved his life, Mulligan said.Devon stopped by the house once before earlier that morning to change his clothes before church, and actually saw Liske packing items into William's truck. Liske asked him how long he would be at the house, and Devon told him long enough to change his shirt.When Devon returned home after singing in the church choir, he played video games for a bit but soon noticed the house was oddly quiet. He searched the home for his family and found a horrifying scene: his stepfather in bed, covered in blood. The teen ran from the home in tears and called his aunt — Susan's sister, Lori Morse — who arrived quickly. Morse made a chilling 911 call after she entered the home and found William dead in his bed: "Oh my god. Oh my god ... He's got to be dead." Morse is then heard telling the dispatcher that her nephew, BJ Liske, had threatened Susan Liske before. But Liske was nowhere to be found. And his father's truck was missing.Ottawa County Sheriff's deputies arrived and walked through the home to get the full scope of the carnage.Deputies kicked in the locked bedroom door to Derek's room and found his bludgeoned body. Liske killed Griffin first that morning, Mulligan said — he used the hammer to silently slay him so as not to wake the others. He then moved into the master bedroom with the .22-caliber gun and shot his father and stepmother.A detective's report released in recent weeks said DNA test results show Liske raped his stepmother.Hours after the murders, Carroll County Sheriff's deputies caught up with Liske at the family's cabin in that county, just south of Canton. Deputies noticed blood on his shoes and clothing, and he had a .22-caliber rifle, as well as his father's wallet and cell phone, Mulligan said.In the months after the murder, Liske further incriminated himself. He was in jail on March 19 during a telephone call to his mother, which the jail recorded. Liske's mother read him a newspaper article about the homicide."She then said, 'You did it, you did all this,'" Mulligan said, recalling the phone call. "To which the defendant replied, 'Yes.'"The murder came just a day after Liske and William went hunting and had a few beers with friends. Liske has a history of mental illness and violent behavior. According to court records, he was hospitalized in 2007 and diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type.Defense attorneys asked for Liske to undergo psychiatric evaluations, but after reviewing those evaluations Winters said was Liske competent to stand trial.Family and friends gathered on the first floor of the courthouse after Friday's events. They said life has been tough after the deaths, and they're glad they only have to return to the courthouse one more time. Liske's sentencing is Sept. 9.