PLEA — Kelsey Lee Henry, 23, told Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese Tuesday he was guilty of murdering a 58-year-old good Samaritan trying to keep him from assaulting his then-girlfriend. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — A 23-year-old man will spend at least 15 years behind bars after admitting he killed a good samaritan who tried to keep him from assaulting his girlfriend in May 2024.

Kelsey Lee Henry, 23, entered a guilty plea Tuesday to murdering 58-year-old Bruce William Flieger of Jewett. Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years, the maximum. In exchange for admitting his guilt, the state dropped charges of tampering with evidence and domestic violence with a repeat offender specification that, had he been convicted by a jury, would have earned him an additional nine-36 months in prison for each charge.

“I think the tragedy of this case is that it’s the ultimate good samaritan case,” Prosecutor Jane Hanlin said after the hearing. “The victim in this case was simply trying to stop the defendant’s assault on his girlfriend–what we would hope everyone would do if we were (the one) being assaulted–and tried to stop the woman from being injured and instead, the defendant turned his anger towards the victim and stabbed him to death.”

Hanlin said Henry’s then-girlfriend, pregnant at the time with another man’s child, had refused to cooperate with police, but there was nonetheless an abundance of evidence linking him to Flieger’s murder-including jail phone calls during which he discussed the murder and how many time’s he’d stabbed the victim, along with conversations he’d had with at least one other inmate. Flieger’s DNA also was on the blade of a knife Henry took with him when he fled the scene and tossed along the way, she said.

Henry had two prior domestic violence convictions, both in Ohio County, WV, and was enraged when Flieger tried to keep him from beating his girlfriend, Hanlin said, turning his anger on Flieger, stabbing him in the chest and abdomen and cutting through his small intestine.

“I don’t think he was trying to stab his girlfriend,” Hanlin said. “He has a history of domestic violence but it’s usually physical. He stabbed Mr. Flieger for trying to keep him from beating the girl.”

Flieger, a New York native, at one time had worked as a guard for the Stanley County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Department, and after relocating to Ohio found work as a security guard.

“He did nothing wrong at all,” Hanlin reiterated. “He saw (the woman) getting beat up and tried to intervene.”

Prior to sentencing Bruzzese took pains to ensure Henry was committed to signing the the plea deal, pointing out the proceedings were delayed about 20 minutes while he conferred with his court-appointed attorney, Eric Reszke. Bruzzese told Henry he could still change his mind.

“You were all for doing this yesterday,” the judge reminded him. “Then, this morning, we were set (to start at) nine but I noticed you had a conference with your attorney for 20 minutes, which I’m good with, but I want to make sure that you’re settled in your mind that this is what you want to do–we don’t want to hear later ‘I didn’t know, I didn’t understand, somebody made me do it’.”

Sentencing proceeded after Henry assured Bruzzese he wanted to move forward with with his plea.

Hanlin said they’d been in court for a pretrial meeting Monday morning when Henry announced he was willing to plead guilty that day. Prior to the start of the hearing he’d raised to Reszke the possibility of getting Hanlin to offer a lesser charge, something she said later was never going to happen if only because the circumstances of Flieger’s death didn’t warrant a lesser charge. She also said Flieger’s family was notified of the potential flee and did not object.

“He confessed. There is DNA evidence, there’s eyewitness testimony, all those things came together in this case,” she said. “It makes me feel awful for the victim because a lot of times, people put themselves in a bad situation or in a bad place, but this guy didn’t–he was really trying to do the right thing.”

Bruzzese told Henry that he’ll get credit for the 334 days he spent in jail awaiting trial and, when or if he’s released from prison, he’ll be on probation for at least five years. He’ll also banned for life from having or using guns.