Coshocton man accused of murder of two Columbus men dies in jail awaiting trial

A Coshocton man has died by suicide in the Franklin County jail while awaiting trial on charges accusing him of killing two Greater Columbus men in late May who he had met on a dating app primarily used by gay men.

In a court filing Tuesday, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kim J. Brown terminated the murder cases against 19-year-old Talent A. Bradley due to his death. Court records did not specify Bradley's date of death nor a cause, but an online obituary indicated he died on Dec. 27.

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Maureen Kocot, a spokeswoman for the Franklin County Sheriff's office confirmed to The Dispatch on Thursday that Bradley was an inmate at the Downtown jail facility who died on Dec. 27 of an apparent suicide. 

Kocot said Bradley was in a cell by himself. The Franklin County Coroner's office is conducting a full investigation.

Bradley, who was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury in August on 14 felony counts related to the homicides of the two male victims, was awaiting the resolution of his case at the time of his death. Bradley was charged with four counts each of murder and aggravated murder, three counts of aggravated burglary, one count of burglary and one count of tampering with evidence.

Bradley had been held in custody following his arrest and a hearing holding him in jail on $3 million bond. 

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Bradley, a former Canton resident, resided in Coshocton at the time he was arrested in mid-August after Columbus police determined that he was the suspect behind the separate stabbing deaths of Randy Gwirtz and Robert Goodrich, who were both 63.

Police determined that both men were killed around May 26 or May 27 at their homes, which were located about seven miles apart. Court records and police indicated that Bradley met both men through Grindr, a dating app popular among the LGBTQ+ community, particularly gay men.

News of the murders ignited a wave of anxiety and outrage in the LGBTQ+ community due to the sexual orientations of both of the victims.

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At the time of Bradley's arrest, Columbus police spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua said investigators had not ruled out anti-LGBTQ+ bias as the motivation. But Fuqua pointed to the fact that both men lived alone, which potentially made them a target for robbery.

Gwirtz's body was found June 7 inside his Northeast Side home on Fahlander Drive South after a family member called police for a well-being check when they were unable to reach him. Homicide detectives were able to determine that Gwirtz had been killed around May 26, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Around the time that Gwirtz would have been killed, Goodrich's relatives also found him slain on May 27 in his Westerville home on Mohican Way, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit states that Goodrich was killed in a stabbing, similar to Gwirtz.

Goodrich's phone was missing, and homicide detectives tracked its location, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance footage obtained from area businesses and school buses revealed a red Honda Civic leaving the neighborhood and later captured at times and locations consistent with the phone's location tracking, the affidavit states.

Detectives determined it was a 2001-2003 model with a spoiler and damage to the front and rear left panels, which matched a vehicle registered to Bradley.

Dispatch reporter Bethany Bruner contributed to this report. 

Eric Lagatta is a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch covering public safety, breaking news and social justice issues. Reach him at elagatta@dispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter

@EricLagatta