Post by scotkaz on Jul 31, 2007 5:53:30 GMT -5
Strickland grants time for more DNA testing
Monday, July 30, 2007 12:24 PM
By Alan Johnson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
ONN
John G. Spirko Jr.
Convicted killer John G. Spirko Jr. will get another 120-day reprieve from execution, his seventh, to allow more time for DNA testing.
Gov. Ted Strickland signed the reprieve for Spirko today, spokesman Keith Dailey said.
Spirko, 60, was scheduled to be executed Sept. 18 for the August 1982 kidnapping and murder of Betty Jane Mottinger, 48, postmistress of Elgin, a small town in northwestern Ohio.
His original execution date was Sept. 19, 2005.
As with the other six delays, this one was granted to allow additional DNA testing on a number of items, including clothing, cigarette butts and duct tape found at the post-office crime scene and the farm field where Mottinger's body was found six weeks after her abduction.
If any DNA is found, it is tested against samples from Spirko and other individuals.
As of March of this year, state officials said the testing, which has cost taxpayers in excess of $50,000, has been inconclusive.
Best Wishes
Karen E Torley
www.torley.org
Official Kenny Richey Campaign
No Arson No Murder
When Blind Justice Becomes Blind Injustice
“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. . Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. To remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all..." Elie Wiesel Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986.
