‘Not a fairytale’: Ohio woman marries brother’s convicted killer

Crystal Strauss tied the knot with John Tiedjen, a man convicted of killing her half-brother in the 1980s and who is awaiting a retrial

Almost 40 years after he was convicted of killing her half-brother, she exchanged vows with him - even as he remains under house arrest and a retrial looms.

Earlier this month Crystal Strauss, of Cleveland, Ohio tied the knot with John Tiedjen, a man sent to prison for killing her sibling in the 1980s.

Brian McGary was Tiedjen’s lifelong friend and roomate in 1987 when he was found with a gunshot wound to the head and a stab wound. After being interrogated, Tiedjen signed a statement saying that the killing had been in self-defense.

Tiedjen went on to spend 32 years behind bars.

The couple’s unlikely courtship began in the late Eighties when Ms Strauss wrote a letter to Tiedjen, forgiving him for killing Mr McGary.

Tiedjen replied, saying that he had not killed her sibling. “And I wrote her a letter back and I said I didn’t do it, take a look at this stuff,” the 57-year-old told News 5 Cleveland.

Tiedjen had proposed to Strauss over the phone in 2020 when his release from prison looked uncertain, according to the Washington Post.

The 57-year-old was released from prison on bond last month after being granted a new trial due to missing evidence in his case, Boston 25 reported.

The first hearing in Tiedjen’s re-trial is set for 31 August.

“We’ll get through this,” Ms Strauss told News 5. “It’s going to be a challenge, there’s no doubt about it.”

Tiedjen’s attorney, Kimberly Kendall Corral, shared pictures from the couple’s wedding ceremony on Instagram. Ms Corral said that while this is definitely not a fairy tale, “it is so genuine”.