Coshocton man accused of murder of two Columbus men dies before trial

On Jan 6, 2022

Talent A. Bradley of Coshocton was indicted in Franklin County on charges accusing him of killing two Greater Columbus men in late-May who he had met on a dating app primarily used by gay men. He died while awaiting the resolution of the case.

A Coshocton man awaiting trial in Franklin County on charges accusing him of killing two Greater Columbus men in late May who he had met on a dating app primarily used by gay men has died.

In a court filing Tuesday, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kim J. Brown terminated the murder cases against 19-year-old Talent A. Bradley due to his death. Court records do not specify Bradley’s date of death nor a cause, but an online obituary indicated he died on Dec. 27.

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Bradley, who was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury in August on 14 felony counts related to the homicides of the two male victims, was awaiting the resolution of his case at the time of his death. Bradley was charged with four counts each of murder and aggravated murder, three counts of aggravated burglary, one count of burglary and one count of tampering with evidence.

It’s believed Bradley was an inmate at the Franklin County jail at the time of his death as that is where he had been held following his arrest and a hearing holding him in jail on $3 million bond. But Bradley’s name is no longer included on the jail’s inmate registry.

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A spokeswoman for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office was unable to provide any information Wednesday night, saying the agency may be able to provide details Thursday morning.

Bradley, a former Canton resident, resided in Coshocton at the time he a was arrested in mid-August after Columbus police determined that he was the suspect behind the separate stabbing deaths of Randy Gwirtz and Robert Goodrich, who were both 63 years old.

Police determined that both men were killed around May 26 or May 27 at their homes, which were located about seven miles apart. Court records and police indicated that Bradley met both men through Grindr, a dating app popular among the LGBTQ+ community, particularly gay men.

News of the murders ignited a wave of anxiety and outrage in the LGBTQ+ community due to the sexual orientations of both of the victims.

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At the time of Bradley’s arrest, Columbus police spokesman Sgt. James Fuqua said investigators had not ruled out anti-LGBTQ+ bias as the motivation. But Fuqua pointed to the fact that both men lived alone, which potentially made them a target for robbery.

Gwirtz’s body was found June 7 inside his Northeast Side home on Fahlander Drive South after a family member called police for a well-being check when they were unable to reach him. Homicide detectives were able to determine that Gwirtz had been killed around May 26, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Around the time that Gwirtz would have been killed, Goodrich’s relatives also found him slain on May 27 in his Westerville home on Mohican Way, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit states that Goodrich was killed in a stabbing, similar to Gwirtz.

Goodrich’s phone was missing, and homicide detectives tracked its location, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance footage obtained from area businesses and school buses revealed a red Honda Civic leaving the neighborhood and later captured at times and locations consistent with the phone’s location tracking, the affidavit states.