Woman marries man convicted of murdering her brother in Ohio. ‘God put us together’
_fitted.png "An Ohio woman married a man accused of murdering her brother in 1987.")
Over the weekend, in a small ceremony officiated by his attorney, John Tiedjen married the sister of an Ohio man he’s accused of killing decades ago.
“I love him obviously, if I didn’t love him I would not be sitting here with him,” Crystal Tiedjen, formerly Crystal Straus, told WEWS. In 1989, her new husband was convicted of murdering her brother, Brian McGary, for which Tiedjen spent 32 years behind bars.
But new evidence brought by Tiedjen’s attorney — crime scene photos and police reports not submitted during his first trial — has cast doubt on his guilty verdict, media outlets report. A judge recently threw out his conviction and is granting him a retrial.
In July, Tiedjen walked out of jail, outlets reported. He’s under house arrest pending his upcoming trial on Aug. 31.
“First of all, I want to thank God, of course. And, my attorney,” Tiedjen told WJW in July.
Despite the new evidence, county prosecutors say the right verdict was reached against Tiedjen in 1989, and vow they’ll put him away again, outlets reported.
The newlyweds had sent letters to each other in recent months, discussing McGary’s killing and Tiedjen’s conviction, growing closer through the written word, WEWS reported. Tiedjen maintained his innocence, and Straus offered her forgiveness.
“Against all odds. God put us together,” Tiedjen said, WJW reported.
Crystal knows their relationship might be hard for some to wrap their minds around, she told the outlet.
“He asked me to marry him on New Year’s Eve, and I said, ‘Yes’. The type of connection we have, people are not going to understand.”
John Tiedjen claims McGary died by suicide, and Crystal believes him. But can a jury be convinced of what she’s become so certain of?
“I spent the whole time through COVID analyzing and learning about this case,” she told WEWS. “We’ll get through this, it’s going to be challenging, there’s no doubt about it.”
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 9:35 AM with the headline "Woman marries man convicted of murdering her brother in Ohio. ‘God put us together’."