Pence files notice of appeal in murder conviction

LOGAN — One week after being sentenced to serve 18 years to life in prison for his conviction on murder and other felony charges, a 21-year-old Fairfield County man filed notice that he plans to appeal the outcome of his trial.

After a week-long jury trial in Hocking County Common Pleas Court in August Isaac Pence of Carroll, Ohio was convicted of murder, felonious assault, and obstructing justice and tampering with evidence. The charges stemmed from an April 2023 incident at a rental cabin in the Sugar Grove area, in which Pence fatally wounded 22-year-old Charles Starner of Lancaster with a knife.

At Pence’s sentencing on Sept. 25, Judge Jason Despetorich meted out the maximum possible sentence in the case, 18 years to life in prison. Two days later Pence was admitted to the state’s Correctional Reception Center in Orient, Ohio, and five days after that, he filed notice that he will be appealing to Ohio’s Fourth District Court of Appeals.

Email at jphillips@logandaily.com