Son meets father on death row in Mansfield

Skatzes helped voice inmate demands to prison authorities. He claims he
was a peacemaker.
Skatzes -- pronounced "skates" -- had a previous murder conviction in
Logan County in 1983. His son stands behind him.

"Everybody looks at my father as a bad person. They don't know the
truth,"
Skatzes said. "I wouldn't stick up for him if I thought my father was
guilty."
Finding his father has given Skatzes a sense of self and belonging for
perhaps the first time in his life.
Skatzes Jr. was born in Marion. He said the state took custody of him.
He later was adopted.
"I went through my whole life thinking they (birth parents) didn't want
me," Skatzes said.

In 1978, his family moved to Delta, near Toledo. Skatzes left home at
22 and went to Connecticut, where he married and had 4 children. Except
for the birth of his kids, Skatzes called the move the biggest mistake of
his life.
"Nothing ever went right," he said. "I didn't ever feel like I
belonged."

Skatzes stayed married for nearly 10 years. After the divorce, he moved
to North Carolina. He moved back to Ohio in 2004, but had a distant
relationship with his adoptive family. Skatzes said the birthday card
he received from his family last year was the 1st in 20 years.

In 2005, Skatzes moved again, this time to Henderson, Ky. The truck
driver plans to stay there, where he met his fiancee.

After having his gall bladder removed in December, Skatzes started
trying to find his real family. Through an adoption registry, he located his
half-brother and half-sister, who have the same mother but a different
father. Skatzes' half-sister told him about his birth father.

"She never knew how to contact me," he said. "She broke it to me that
my father was in jail.
"I thought the worst."

Skatzes said he did intensive research of his father's background. The
2 connected through letters and phone calls before meeting in person
March 29, his father's 62nd birthday. They were allowed to spend 6 hours
together. The News Journal could not speak to Skatzes Sr.

"It was very emotional," Skatzes said. "We latched onto each other and
never let go for about half an hour."
Even though Skatzes had never met his father, he said the two formed an
instant bond.

"It's not like getting to know my father; it's getting in touch with him,"
Skatzes said. "He's so much like me. He knows what I'm going to say
before I say it."

Of his father's impending execution, Skatzes said, "We don't talk about
it."
Skatzes, whose adopted name is Sean Baker, is in the process of having
his name legally changed to reflect his birthright.

He hopes his father's conviction will be overturned.

"I love my father very much," Skatzes said. "It's just the way it is
right now. We'll straighten it out."

(source: Mansfield News Journal)

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