Inset: Frederick Harroff (Columbiana Prosecutor's Office). Background: The area near where Harroff tried to kill his ex-wife with a baseball bat in Columbiana, Ohio (Google Maps).
An Ohio man will spend several decades behind bars for trying to kill his ex-wife in an attack that began with a baseball bat last summer.
In late March, Frederick L. Harroff, 66, pleaded guilty to counts of attempted murder, aggravated arson, felonious assault, kidnapping and strangulation over the brutal June 2025 attack.
On Friday, the defendant was sentenced to a minimum of 39 years in prison by Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam – allowing for potentially 44 1/2 years in prison should prison officials deem such additional time necessary.
Also on Friday, the victim testified how her ex-husband used more than a baseball bat to try and kill her, according to a courtroom report by The Review, a daily newspaper based in East Liverpool, Ohio.
The woman told the court how Harroff put a rope around her neck, tried to strangle her with his hands, tried to hogtie her, and eventually set her home on fire as he promised that death was coming.
"An entire hour, I fought for my life," she said.
Ultimately, the woman's story was moving – prompting the judge to issue a sentence far in excess of what the state recommended. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 20 to 25 1/2 years.
"His conduct was truly vicious and horrific," Washam said.
On June 2, 2025, just after 10 p.m., the attack began when the woman was lying in bed. Earlier, Harroff took several pills, left, came back, issued a threat, and started beating her with a wooden baseball bat.
"I have nothing to live for, you're not going to live either," the woman recalled the since-condemned man telling her as the violence began. "I'm going to burn this place down and we're both going to die."
Covered in blood and bruises, however, the woman was able to escape out the back door and make it to a neighbor's house.
Inside, police found a crimson-soaked bed with a bloody rope strewn about. Meanwhile, the defendant fled the scene of the crime. He was arrested – covered in blood and burn marks – hiding in the woods some 100 yards away from his trailer on Columbiana-Lisbon Road.
"He is an evil, cruel, malicious monster," the woman testified during the sentencing hearing. "He has shown no remorse."
The defendant offered contrition during an allocution.
"I never wanted to see her hurt," Harroff said. "I take responsibility for everything that happened that night. I don't remember all that happened. I was not in my right mind."
In assessing the lengthy sentence, the court took note of the defendant's military service, decades of steady employment, mental health and suicide attempts, and prior lack of a criminal record.
"Unfortunately that changed dramatically on June 2, 2025," Washam said.
The victim also testified that her light changed that night. Her family also testified during the sentencing hearing.
"He did not win," the woman's niece said, striking a positive note. "He did not break her and he did not break us."