Susan Grund, Oversexed Murderess
Big Name in Town
Susan had left Peru as a sexually precocious teenager. She returned as a sexually confident woman in her mid-20s. Pregnant or not, she arrived in town as randy as ever. And she knew how to work a room, even in maternity clothes.
Through the local bar scene, Susan met a couple of men who worked in law enforcement. As a practical joke, they thought it would be funny to hook her up on a blind date with their friend Jimmy Grund.
Grund's was a big name in the legal community of Peru and Miami County, Ohio. Law was the family business. His father, James Sr., had been a prominent attorney, prosecutor and judge in the county. A grandfather and uncle also had served as judges.
Jimmy, born two days before Christmas in 1944, was destined to follow in their footsteps. He graduated from Peru High School in 1962, then went on to college and law school at the University of Indiana, two hours downstate in Bloomington. During his second year of undergraduate school, Grund met a pert, pretty coed, a freshman named Jane Snyder. Jimmy and Jane were married a year later, in 1965, when Snyder got pregnant.
Daughter Jama was born in July 1965, and son David arrived in 1970, just after Grund finished law school. The young family returned to Peru, and Jimmy went to work as an assistant to his father, who was then serving as county prosecutor.
Grund worked from 1971 to 1978 as an assistant prosecutor, then served four years, 1978-82, as the county's top prosecutor when his father stepped aside.
Grund had a swashbuckling side. He owned an interest in a bar in Peru, where he was an avid customer. He also had a pilot's license, and he loved to ferry his pals on guys-only fishing trips up north.
Jimmy and Jane's marriage had faltered during Jimmy's years as county attorney, and the couple was divorced in 1980. Curiously, they decided to continue to live togetherin part for the sake of their children, and in part because it was economical.
The arrangement continued until the summer of 1984, when Susan walked into Grund's life.