Gullett pleads guilty to manslaughter, theft - Zanesville Times Recorder

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A former Zanesville resident pleaded guilty Friday to one count of manslaughter and one count of motor vehicle theft in a Lee County Common Pleas and will be sentenced Nov. 29.

Matthew Franklin Gullett, 31, was arrested in Zanesville in 2009 for the death of his girlfriend, Shannon Michelle Sweet, 27. Sweet was discovered in the Florida apartment the couple shared in late March 2009.

Lee County (Fla.) State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Samatha Syoen said Gullett faces 10 years in prison and 10 years of probation.

Gullett had been charged with homicide and negligent manslaughter but reached a plea agreement, Syoen said.

Syoen said the Nov. 29 sentencing was scheduled because Sweet's family wants to attend the hearing.

"They agreed with the plea agreement," Syoen said. "This keeps them from having to endure a trial."

Gullett was captured in Zanesville after he stole his father's car and a gun in Florida and then came to the Zanesville/Newark area after Sweet's death, authorities said.

Since Gullett had relatives in the Zanesville area, authorities here were notified.

On April 3, 2009, Gullett was once again on law enforcement's radar after Newark police issued a bulletin that Gullett might have been involved in a burglary.

Around 11 a.m. that morning, Muskingum County Deputy Bob VanDyne located the stolen Cadillac in the parking lot of a nearby motel and called for assistance.

Authorities learned Gullett was staying at the motel and they started clearing the other rooms while waiting for the Special Response Team.

But before the team arrived, Gullett left his room and got into his car.

Deputies and detectives surrounded the vehicle, but Gullett refused to get out and a struggle ensued. Gullett was shot in the upper part of his right shoulder.

In a confession to police in Florida, Gullett said he killed Sweet because she wouldn't stop complaining about him taking money from her.

"Gullett said he jumped on top of her and strangled her," according to a Florida detective's statement that police used to have a warrant issued for Gullet's arrest. "He said he kept on squeezing until she wasn't breathing anymore and she was dead."

A week after she died, Sweet's badly decomposed body was discovered after neighbors reported a foul smell coming from her apartment.

Officers found a jeans pant leg and a 36-inch belt wrapped around Sweet's neck, Detective Christy Jo Ellis said. Bloody clothing and bedding were also discovered in the apartment that had the door kicked in.

Gullett is thought to have stolen her car and then his father's car before he made it to Ohio.

After stealing Sweet's vehicle that morning, Gullett was involved in a head-on crash on College Parkway and then bolted from Lee Memorial Hospital, with an IV still in his arm, before detectives could talk to him.

Gullett was also in trouble in Muskingum County in 2003.

At that time, Gullett had a friend drop him off at a house his sister owned on Ridge Avenue in January where Gullett broke the lock off the back door, according to records.

Gullett was accused of stealing $ 300 and a 1995 Oldsmobile, which Gullett said he did to support his drug habit. In June of 2003, Gullett was sentenced to a year in prison for receiving stolen property and six counts of forgery, after he stole checks from another sister, according to records.

In January 2005, Gullett applied for early judicial release and he was placed on three years of community control on the condition he attend and successfully complete the Licking-Muskingum Community Correction Program, according to records.

Gullett completed the program and was released in July 2005. His probation was transferred to Licking County, where he was living at the time, court records show.

Then in November 2005, the Muskingum County Probation Office was notified Gullett had tested positive for cocaine and had failed to mention he had been detained by a Heath police officer on a traffic stop, that he had been associating with a sex offender and he had not maintained his curfew or reported to his probation officer, according to records.

Several hearings were held in December 2005 and January 2006 for Gullett violating his probation terms and his community control was revoked and he was returned to prison.

At the time of Sweet's death, Glenn Gullett, Gullett's father, pleaded for his son to surrender to police.

Glenn Gullett, who has since died, said his son and Sweet's relationship was marred with drug abuse.

The Fort Myers News-Press contributed to this report.
kthompson@zanesvilletimes recorder.com; (740) 450-6753

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