Man Facing charges for growing ends his own life

[Shockeclipse]

By Mike Sever


Record-Courier staff writer
ROOTSTOWN — A New Milford Road man killed himself Tuesday morning, hours after being charged with felony child endangering for allegedly growing marijuana in the family home.
Robert W. Batsch, 55, of 2808 New Milford, was found in the woods behind his home by his wife shortly after noon Tuesday, according to Portage County Sheriff David Doak.
A .22-caliber rifle was found nearby.
By 1 p.m., the driveway and road in front of the Batsch home was crowded with sheriff’s vehicles.
The well-kept, hundred-year-old home is located eight miles south of Ravenna. Maple trees around the light green home were already hung with containers for maple sap and homemade paper snowflakes were hung in windows.
The couple bought the home in 1991, according to county court records.
Batsch and his wife, Pamela J. Batsch, 54, were both arrested Monday on warrants for allowing a juvenile to live in the home while they were cultivating marijuana there.
Both were released on 10 percent of $5,000 bond after 5 p.m. Monday.
Both were scheduled for preliminary hearings on Friday before Portage County Municipal Court Judge Barbara Oswick.
The couple faced a maximum prison sentence of one to five years each if convicted on the third-degree felony charges, according to Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci.
There was no information on how large a growing operation the couple allegedly had.
A criminal complaint filed against the couple alleged they had been growing marijuana for 13 years and only ceased when it became known law enforcement was investigating.
Doak said he did not see any evidence of marijuana when he was in the basement of the home.
Batsch was pronounced dead at the scene at 2 p.m. according to the Portage County Coroner’s Office. No autopsy was planned.

 

[Shockeclipse]

I heard this from a fellow toker at work. As it turns out this guy worked for the same company as I. Same old story from everyone, he was a nice guy and never troubled anyone.

 

[2Dog]

so flippin sad..........that poor kid. his poor wife. so needless..

 

[UKgirl420]

how sad eace:

 

[Shockeclipse]

I read elsewhere that it was the guys son who turned him in. I wonder if there may have been some underlying issues for his doing so. From what I have been told this guy spoke in glowing terms about his family.

 

[the chef]

Sad....wish he would have found us.

 

[2Dog]

wonder if the person who turned him feels any guilt?

 

[Shockeclipse]

I was reading some of the comments on the article and most of it is of course by the ill-informed. Its sad that people buy that much into the reefer madness craze and things like this have to happen. There were a lot of people pretty much saying he got what was coming for doing something illegal. What happened to humanity?

BTW my favorite post was this one:
"a plant growing in a house is endangering a child. is it a child eating plant? "

 

[Cowboy]

wonder if the person who turned him feels any guilt?

I would hope 2Dog, but sadly in our world many don't. And if it was his son, well, he has a lot to carry the rest of his life.