MOUNT VERNON – Kevin Remillard, 49, was convicted of murder by a Knox County Common Pleas Court jury on Friday afternoon.
Remillard was found guilty of murdering his cousin, Nick, at their Gambier home in June 2017. Nick Remillard, 20, died of a gunshot wound to the head. He was found by law enforcement in the residence’s backyard swimming pool.
Kevin was also found guilty of a firearm specification attached to the murder charge, indicating that a firearm was involved in the offense. In addition, he was found guilty of tampering with evidence.
Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville seemed pleased with the verdict as he stood on the courthouse steps afterwards.
“I think that the jury took the appropriate amount of time to consider the evidence and they came to the right verdict,” McConville said. “They did some real justice here today.”
Meanwhile, Knox County Public Defender John Pyle echoed a different sentiment.
“I’m disappointed, I’m not shocked,” Pyle said. “The sad thing is that, you know, the ramblings that Kevin put down on paper, when his brains were scrambled, seemed to be given much greater weight than the physical evidence. We thought the physical evidence was consistent with what he testified to.”
McConville and Pyle gave their closing arguments on Friday morning. Judge Richard Wetzel informed the jury before deliberations that in order to convict Kevin of murder, they would need to unanimously agree that the state had proved Kevin purposefully killed his cousin.
The jury also considered other options in conviction, such as reckless homicide and negligent homicide, which would have been lesser included offenses.
Kevin will be sentenced on Aug. 24 at 9 a.m.
The jury deliberated for two hours before returning its verdict late Friday afternoon. When the verdict was announced, Kevin remained expressionless. Afterwards, he was shackled in ankle restraints and handcuffs and escorted out of the courtroom by law enforcement.
The jury reached a verdict after hearing testimony from 18 witnesses over four days, 17 of which were called by the prosecution.
