Former county Judge Lynett McGough dies

ELYRIA — Former Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Lynett McGough died Sunday in Fort Myers, Fla., at the age of 72.

Lynett McGough

Her husband, Larry McGough, said his wife of 38 years had suffered from lung disease in the years prior to her death, but she had remained active even after she retired in 2006 after 18 years on the bench.

“She stayed super busy,” he said Monday.

Maureen Martincin, who served as a secretary for McGough when she was a judge, said she and other former staffers still kept in touch with their old boss, who came to Ohio and had lunch with them at least twice a year.

“We had a very close staff,” Martincin said. “It’s like losing a family member.”

She said she felt the loss of McGough keenly when she was in the Lorain County Clerk of Courts office after learning about McGough’s death on Monday because the judge used to give poinsettias to all of the deputy clerks around Christmas.

Chris McKay, who worked as a secretary before becoming McGough’s bailiff, said she didn’t think of McGough just as her employer, but also as a friend.

“She was a great lady and a great person,” McKay said.

McGough took the bench in 1989 following a legal career that included running a private law practice and serving as law director of North Ridgeville.

McGough’s most high-profile case before she became a judge was working as a defense attorney for convicted killer Ronald Ray Post, who was sentenced to death after pleading no contest to aggravated murder charges for the 1983 slaying of motel clerk Helen Vantz. Post died in prison before he could be executed.

County Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski recalled squaring off against McGough back when she was working in North Ridgeville and he was representing some developers before he became a judge.

“We always had a good relationship,” he said. “We didn’t let the fact that we had clients who disagreed with each other vehemently get in the way of our professional and personal relationships.”

Betleski said that he and McGough remained friendly, even when they disagreed with each other while they were both serving as judges.

McGough was known for her tough professional persona, recalled those who knew her, but was also well liked by many of the attorneys who had cases in her courtroom.

“It was a pleasure to practice in front of her,” Assistant County Prosecutor Tony Cillo said.

Her most controversial case was likely the Head Start child molestation case out of Lorain that drew national attention.

McGough presided over the trial that ended with convictions for both Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen, who both maintain their innocence to this day. Her successor on the bench, former Judge James Burge, later launched a review of the case and acquitted the pair, although that decision was ultimately thrown out on appeal.

Smith later reached a deal with prosecutors that saw her freed, while Allen’s deal has returned him to prison. Despite the high profile of the case, McGough repeatedly declined to comment on it after leaving office.

Larry McGough said his wife thought her work was important.

“She definitely believed in what she was doing,” he said. “…She had no hesitancy with her punishments.”

But Larry McGough said his wife was more than just a lawyer and a judge. He said she was an avid scuba diver and they traveled the world to dive. The couple also maintained an animal sanctuary on their property in Amherst when they lived in this area, and he said she was involved in community activities such as Hot Stove baseball and serving on the local Girl Scout board.

“She did those things because she had to stay with good people after working with all those criminals to remember there were good people,” he said.

In addition to her husband, Judge McGough is survived by three sons and many grandchildren, according to her obituary. She was preceded in death by a daughter.

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