Judge denies Spirko request for new trial, execution delay

U.S. District Judge James Carr said there was no reason to believe that investigators fraudulently hid evidence from John Spirko's defense team.

Spirko, 59, is scheduled to be executed for the 1982 murder of Betty Jane Mottinger, 48, who was the postmistress in Elgin in northwest Ohio. She was abducted and stabbed nearly 20 times, wrapped in a curtain and dumped in a field. Her body was found three weeks later.

He has denied any involvement.

Following Carr's ruling, Spirko's attorneys asked the Ohio Supreme Court to delay the Sept. 20 execution date to allow the Ohio Parole Board to hold a new clemency hearing.

The parole board is considering whether to grant a new clemency hearing for Spirko after his attorneys said that an assistant state prosecutor provided inaccurate information to the parole board.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported that Timothy Prichard, the Ohio attorney general's senior deputy, made false statements and mischaracterized evidence regarding what Spirko knew about the murder and his whereabouts on the day of the killing. The newspaper wrote its story after comparing Prichard's statements to the parole board with the case record.

Prosecutors have said Spirko convicted himself by telling investigators details of the slaying, including what clothes and jewelry Mottinger was wearing that day. The defense said he admitted to the crime only to win freedom for his girlfriend and cut a deal for himself.

Spirko's attorneys have argued that there is information that casts doubt on whether Spirko's best friend and former cellmate was in the village the day of the abduction. Prosecutors originally used that sighting to link Spirko to the murder.

His attorneys say former postal investigator Paul Hartman said in a sworn statement that he had decided before the trial that the friend, Delaney Gibson, wasn't involved in the killing. Hartman has since said the statements to Spirko's lawyers were false and he wanted to mislead them.

The state says whether Gibson was part of the murder doesn't matter. State attorneys said federal and state appeals have looked at the question of Gibson's whereabouts and determined that it was Spirko's statements that sealed his conviction.

Both Spirko and Gibson were charged with killing Mottinger.

Gibson wasn't brought to trial because he was serving time for an unrelated murder in Kentucky. He was released in 2001 but Ohio prosecutors didn't pursue him. Last year they dropped the charges against Gibson, saying the case was too old.