Trial begins Monday for suspect accused of stabbing longtime girlfriend 55 times

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HAMILTON, Ohio (WXIX) — After several delays, the trial begins Monday for a murder suspect accused of brutally killing his longtime girlfriend by stabbing her 55 times.

Toby Madden, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and felonious assault for the October 2022 killing of Rachelle Brewsaugh, 50, in Hamilton.

She was his girlfriend for 27 years, court documents show.

Hamilton police found her dead on the ground inside a home on Parrish Avenue, near Hensley Avenue, on Oct. 11, 2022.

She was stabbed in the head, chest, abdomen, upper back, left knee and both sides of her arms, shoulders and hands, according to her autopsy report.

Rachelle Brewsaugh, 50, of Hamilton, was found stabbed to death in a home in Parrish... — Rachelle Brewsaugh, 50, of Hamilton, was found stabbed to death in a home on Parrish Avenue near Hensley Avenue on October 11, 2022.(FOX19 NOW)

Madden was found fit to stand trial in August 2023, but the case has been delayed several times, court records show.

He complained and fired his various lawyers, including five court-appointed lawyers.

Earlier this month, Madden attempted to fire his sixth attorney and delay the trial again by seeking to represent himself.

Butler County Magistrate Court Judge Jennifer McElfresh had already ruled against the same request in January.

Madden’s attorney eventually withdrew the request this time, two weeks after it was filed.

Additional security measures may be put in place during the trial.

The judge removed Madden from the courtroom in March after he continued to yell despite orders to stop. Officers then struggled to remove him from the courtroom.

He recently elected to begin serving an 11-year sentence in state prison after being convicted of drug possession in an unrelated case, although he is appealing and could have remained in Butler County Jail because his murder trial began so soon after.

But court records show Madden also complained about alleged “problems” within the prison and with staff.

The Butler County Sheriff’s Office arrested him with a suitcase containing more than 300 grams of methamphetamine in 2021, court records show.

Officers confiscated the methamphetamine but did not arrest Madden in hopes he would work with them as a confidential informant and eventually tell them how he obtained the drugs, according to a court filing for his appeal.

However, he never contacted them again and they eventually charged him with drug possession.

Madden told Hamilton police while investigating his girlfriend’s murder that someone else did it because there was a bounty on his head for drugs.

He has been incarcerated at Chillicothe State Prison since June, but was recently transferred to Butler County Jail for this trial.

He had previously been convicted of aggravated assault in 1988 and was sentenced to three to 15 years in a maximum-security prison in Mansfield, court records show.

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