A former Warren man will continue to serve separate, consecutive life sentences in prison after the Ohio 11th District Court of Appeals affirmed that sentence and conviction.

 David Honzu, 66, lost the appeal of the conviction and sentence on three counts of kidnapping and two counts of rape.

On Dec. 20, 2022, Judge Ronald J. Rice sentenced Honzu to a term of 60 years to life in prison to be served consecutively to a 17-year-to-life prison term for a conviction in an attempted kidnapping case.

A Trumbull County jury had found Honzu guilty of the rape/kidnapping charges related to the 2007 rape of a woman in Warren.

The cold case arose from a Sexual Assault Initiative started by the Ohio Attorney General's Office which tested a backlog of previously untested rape kits in which an unidentified assault kidnapped and beat and raped a female in Warren. The result of the initiative led to a DNA match which identified Honzu as the assailant.

The appeals judges failed to find any merit in Honzu’s claim that he had ineffective counsel during his trial.