Shrubsall’s statement to police said she threatened to kill him, and at his sentencing, he referred to himself as an abused child.

The killing resulted in a guilty plea to a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter and a sentence of five to 15 years in state prison.

Shrubsall appealed the sentence, and the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court granted him youthful offender status. He was released from prison in March 1992 after serving 16 months. Before he went to prison, he completed two years at Niagara University.

After his release, Shrubsall earned a degree from the University of Pennsylvania and returned to Niagara Falls.

But he was arrested in April 1995 for grabbing a woman’s buttocks as she walked down the street. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in that case.

The following year, Shrubsall went to trial in Niagara County Court on a separate first-degree sexual abuse charge stemming from an incident with a Niagara Falls woman in May 1995.

He did not show up for a court appearance on May 15, 1996, and he had left a suicide note at his Aunt June’s house, implying that he was going to throw himself over the falls.