Cleveland pleads guilty to second-degree murder charges

CTV London: Guilty plea in murder case Jason Cleveland pleaded guilty Monday in the deaths of two London men nearly three years ago. Nick Paparella reports.

Jason Cleveland, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in a London courtroom on Monday.

Cleveland was charged in connection with the deaths of 50-year-old Kevin David Walkey and 31-year-old Robert John Ratz back in March 2013.

The bodies of the two men were found at Cleveland's Fiddlers Green Road apartment building after neighbours reported a bad smell.

Walkey was found in the apartment while Ratz was found in a recycling bin in a storage unit in the same building.

Each of the men had answered fraudulent ads placed by Cleveland about subletting the apartment, each suffered blunt force trauma to the head.

On his arrest after the discovery of the first body, Cleveland initially claimed it was a case of self defence, and disclosed that there was a second bodies.

Cleveland has previously spent six years in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of his then business partner in 2003.

The Crown is asking that Cleveland serve 25-year sentence before being eligible for parole while the defence is asking for a 20 year sentence.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8th.