Shawn Grate

Shawn Michael Grate, convicted of murdering five people across northern Ohio between 2006 and 2016, is challenging his death sentence through federal appeals. His case raises international questions about confession reliability and the role of forensic evidence in capital cases.

ABC Audio and 20/20 have partnered to launch 'The Hand in the Window,' a six-part podcast series exploring the 2016 capture of serial killer Shawn Grate in rural Ashland, Ohio. Hosted by veteran journalist John Quiñones, the limited series premiered November 4, 2025, and traces how a desperate 911 call led investigators to uncover multiple homicides across the state.

In September 2016, a kidnapped woman escaped from a house in Ashland, Ohio, and called 911 using her captor's phone. That call led to the arrest of Shawn Grate, a serial killer who murdered five women across northern Ohio between 2006 and 2016. Now, a six-part podcast series from 20/20 and ABC Audio is uncovering the full story of his crimes and capture.

In the early hours of September 13, 2016, a kidnapped woman lying next to her captor used his own phone to call 911 and whisper her location to police. Her call exposed Shawn Grate, a rural Ohio man who had systematically abducted, tortured, and murdered at least five women over more than a decade.

When a woman's desperate 911 call led to the rescue of a kidnapping victim in rural Ohio in 2016, it triggered an investigation that would unravel a five-victim serial murder case. A detective's 33-hour interrogation became the pivotal moment that transformed a local crime into a regional manhunt.