An Ohio man took his own life by jumping off a courthouse balcony Monday just before his murder trial was supposed to start, officials said.
Robert Seman Jr. was set to stand trial for starting house fire that took the lives of a 10-year-old girl and her grandparents in 2015. As he was being led to a holding cell by deputies after a hearing at Youngston's Mahoning County Courthouse, he took at suicidal leap off a fourth-floor balcony. The move stunned courthouse workers as Seman laid motionless on the floor of the rotunda and died within minutes.
If convicted, the 48-year-old would have gotten the death penalty for killing 10-year-old Corinne Gump, as well as her grandparents, 63-year-old William Schmidt and 61-year-old Judith Schmidt.
According to prosecutors, Seman burned down the house because Gump was set to testify against him in a rape trial. (Daily News)