Ohio Woman Who Fatally Drugged 4 Men Is Handed 4 Life Sentences

Investigators found that, from December 2022 to June 2023, Ms. Auborn “had been meeting men for sex in exchange for money in various locations in Columbus, then overdosing the victims with fentanyl in order to steal their possessions,” the prosecutor’s office said. The deaths occurred in that period.

The four Ohio men who died as a result of Ms. Auborn’s actions were identified by prosecutors as: Joseph Crumpler, 30, of North Linden; Robert Snoke, 54, of Pataskala; Wayne Akin, 64, of the Northeast Side; and Guy Renda, 42, of Belpre. A fifth man, Richard Bixler, 61, of Columbus, survived.

According to investigators, Ms. Auborn met the men in the northeastern part of Columbus, sometimes near highways.

Mark M. Hunt, the lawyer for Ms. Auborn, said in court that his client took full responsibility for her actions, noting that she did not mean to kill the men and pointed to years of abuse, including sexual exploitation and trafficking, that she had suffered.

“When you confess to something, you are necessarily showing remorse,” he said on Thursday.

Mr. Hunt asked the court for concurrent sentences, which would have reduced the time served, arguing that “regardless of what the court does today, and everybody I hope understands this, she’s getting a life sentence.”