Joe Thomas Indicted In Murder, Rape Of Annie McSween

The Lake County Prosecutor's Office is seeking the death penalty for .

Thomas was indicted today in Lake County Court of Common Pleas on charges of aggravated murder, rape, tampering with evidence, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Thomas, 26, faces a total of 11 felony charges.

McSween, 49, of Mentor, was found murdered Nov. 26 near on Andrews Road.

McSween had tended bar at Lakeway Lounge the night she was murdered. She closed the bar, but never made it home.

Her body was found behind the house at 5612 Andrews Road, next to the bar, at 8:39 a.m. She had been beaten, strangled and repeatedly stabbed, Lake County Deputy Coroner Dr. Mark Komar said. She likely bled to death.

Thomas was identified as someone who .

At the time of Thomas's arrest, former Mentor-on-the-Lake Police Chief Joe Doran would neither confirm nor deny that Thomas was at the bar the night McSween was murdered.

Police arrested Thomas from the home where he was living on the 1300 block of Oldsmar Avenue in Madison Township.

According to various court documents, Thomas frequently changed addresses. He has lived in Madison Township, Perry Township and Fairport Harbor.

Thomas also used to live in Mentor-on-the-Lake, according to an arrest record from 2007.

Thomas's indictment is attached to this story as a PDF.