PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- A former Mentor police officer accused of killing his wife was indicted by a grand jury Friday on 12 counts that could bring a maximum sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole.



Gary Stroud, 57, of Mentor-on-the-Lake, was indicted on charges of murder, aggravated murder, kidnapping, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse, according to the Lake County Prosecutor's Office.

Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson said that the admissible evidence in the case doesn't fit the specifications for the death penalty.

Stroud was arrested Nov. 27 after his daughter, Stephanie, 25, told a police dispatcher that she believed that there was a dead animal in the garage of the Marine Parkway home that she shared with her parents.

When police arrived, they needed to use a Taser on Stroud when he did not obey their orders.

Police found a body in the garage, later identified as Stroud's wife, Diane. Family members told police that Diane had been gone for about six weeks, but that she would often take long trips away from home.

Mentor-on-the-Lake police said that a plastic bag with duct tape had been placed over her head, and her body was put inside a sleeping bag. Her body was badly decomposed, making her unrecognizable.

The Cuyahoga County medical examiner's office conducted the autopsy. Police said the Lake County Coroner's office determined that she died of blunt force trauma.

Stroud served as a Mentor police officer from 1979 to 2005 and had worked part time in the Lake County Sheriff's Office from 2006 until he was laid off in September.

Diane Stroud was a Mentor-on-the-Lake City Council member from 1996 to 2003, serving as president in 2003.

Stroud is still being held in the Lake County Jail. Bail was set at $1 million.