Man pleads guilty in brutal assault involving chain, crowbar, chainsaw, captured on video

A 44-year-old Ashland man could be sentenced to up to 63 years in prison after pleading guilty as charged Monday to a 10-count indictment.

Robert Virgili pleaded guilty in Richland County Common Pleas Court to attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness and tampering with evidence.

The charges relate to a May incident in Mansfield. First Assistant Prosecutor Teri Burnside said another man lured the victim to a garage, where Virgili was waiting.

"Mr. Virgili locked the door ... the purpose was to terrorize and inflict serious physical harm," she said. "Not only that, his intention was to kill (victim) by means of various instruments, shall we say."

Those instruments included a crowbar, a heavy chain and a chainsaw, Burnside said.

"By whatever higher power, (victim) survived and was able to get away," she said.

The incident was recorded.

Defense attorney asks for Virgili to be evaluated

Defense attorney Ben Zushin asked Judge Phil Naumoff for a mitigation expert in the case.

"The presence of a video really brings very little question into exactly what took place," Zushin said. "The real question is why this took place and what state of mind that my client was in at the time."

Zushin suggested the mitigation expert could write a report or testify ahead of Virgili's sentencing, which Naumoff scheduled for Jan. 19, 2024.

"We do believe that is something that is incredibly important in this case," the defense attorney said. "We certainly agree that the allegations in this case are very, very serious, but we also think there's a little bit more going on behind the scenes."

Naumoff said such evaluations are handled by the District V Forensic Diagnostic Center.

Zushin said he also would argue that a number of the counts should merge for sentencing purposes and that his client should face fewer than 63 years in prison.

After the hearing, Burnside said she did not know a motive for the attack. She said the victim suffered a ruptured spleen and a ruptured liver, along with extensive injuries to his skull and back.

Burnside addressed one of the weapons used by Virgili.

"He was trying to start the chainsaw. This was after he used the chain and the crowbar," she said. "Thankfully, the rope broke."

Despite his injuries, the victim managed to escape after a witness entered the garage and suggested to Virgili that he should end the beating.

"He ran out a garage door that wasn't locked," Burnside said. "It was just an opportunity that he took."

She added the man is still recovering from the attack.

mcaudill@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Man pleads guilty to attempted murder, 9 other counts for May attack