THE shocking moment a man accused of repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl and later killing her and her grandparents jumped to his death has been captured on camera.
Robert Seman Jr, 48, was set for trial this week in Youngstown, Ohio, over the deadly house fire when he threw himself from the fourth-floor of the at the Mahoning County Courthouse.
Seman was caught on CCTV plunging to his death the day before jury selection in his death penalty trial.
He was being led by deputies from a courtroom after a status conference to a holding cell at the Mahoning County Courthouse in Youngstown when he killed himself.
Sheriff Jerry Greene said:"According to a couple of the attorneys and basically everybody there, it seemed like he was in pretty good spirits.
"He was talking about the future of his trial, and he just decided to jump."
Seman could have faced the death penalty if convicted in the deaths of 10-year-old Corrine Gump, 63-year-old William Schmidt and 61-year-old Judith Schmidt.
The alleged rapes took place over a number of years while Seman was dating Corrine's mother, Lynn Schmidt.
The March 2015 fire at the family's home occurred the day Seman's trial in Corrine's rape was scheduled to begin in Youngstown.
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Investigators concluded that the fire was fueled by gasoline. Burns were found on Seman's body after his arrest, prosecutors said.
Seman's aggravated murder trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday 35 miles (56 kilometers) away from Youngstown in Portage County.
Seman's attorneys successfully argued that he could not get a fair trial in Youngstown because of pretrial publicity.
A Mahoning County judge declared a mistrial last September because a potential juror had prematurely concluded that Seman was guilty and discussed details about the case with fellow jurors.
Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa told news outlets Monday that Seman "knew" the evidence was against him.
"Every witness we talked to in preparation for the case, they didn't know why he wasn't pleading guilty or asking for some sort of plea," Cantalamessa said.
Seman's attorneys didn't return telephone messages seeking comment Monday
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