Joey LaBute wasn’t the type to barhop. He was a homebody, content to play videogames, and watch “Sleeping Beauty” or episodes of “Game of Thrones.” He liked to knit scarves. But on Friday, March 4, 2016, he ditched his Gahanna apartment for a night on the town at Union
Cafe in the Short North. On footage from Union’s security cameras in the early morning hours of March 5, LaBute can be seen walking briskly toward the exit by himself.
He doesn’t look frazzled or fearful, but he walks with purpose, without a coat, out into the cold night. On March, 29th, 2016, deceased in the Ohio River.
The Franklin County Coroner’s office told police that LaBute was likely already dead when he entered the water, but the full autopsy report offers few clues as to what happened to LaBute before he wound up In the river.
“There’s no physical trauma and no known medical issues. There’s really only one option left,” said Detective Wooten, who brought up the possibility of certain drugs that dissipate in the body after a period of time.“GHB is a drug that could possibly be used in date rape scenarios,”
Franklin County Coroner Chief Toxicologist Dan Baker said. “The human body already has low levels of GHB. After death, and during decomposition, those normal GHB levels become elevated in everybody. So it would be impossible to tell if someone had exposure to GHB in a decomposed state.
True Crime Psychic asks "WHO MURDERED JOEY LABUTE, JR?"
