By Alan Johnson
The Columbus Dispatch
Friday, October 20, 2006 1:05 PM
Ohio's next governor, either Democrat Ted Strickland or Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell, may decide the fate of condemned killer John G. Spirko Jr.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Gov. Bob Taft on Friday granted condemned killer John Spirko a fifth reprieve from execution, guaranteeing that a new governor will decide Spirko's fate.

Taft agreed to the request by Attorney General Jim Petro to delay the execution to allow more time for DNA testing in the 24-year-old murder of an Ohio postmistress.

The four-month reprieve delays the execution until April of next year.

Key Quotes from the Earliest News Articles in the Case. These quotes and news articles where published before John Spirko came into the picture.

On 9th August 1982, at around 8.30am, Betty Jane Mottinger disappeared from the small Elgin, Ohio Post Office where she was the Post Mistress

Enough To Send Man To Death Row

By John Spirko
Edited by Sheila Howard, JD Editor

On August 9, 1982 at about 8:30 am, the Elgin, Ohio Post Office, was robbed of stamps and money orders, and Postmaster Betty Jane Mottinger was abducted.

Elgin, Ohio was a rural town with a population of approximately 50 people. U.S. Postal Inspectors took charge of the case that afternoon and set up a Task Force to solve the crime. The physical evidence recovered, a few fingerprints lifted from the safe and surrounding area, gave investigators few leads.

By John Spirko
Edited by Sheila Howard, JD Editor

A stupid idea takes form 

There was a television in the block, and one day I saw a news story about the Betty Jane Mottinger case. The FBI and postal inspectors were looking for leads concerning her murder. I then had the idea that I could claim I had information about the case, and work out a deal for LuAnn. My problem was I didn’t know anything about the case. So I got all the articles I could find about the Mottinger case and I watched the TV for new developments in the investigation. I then had my brother-in-law call the FBI to tell them I wanted to discuss the Mottinger case. Several days later, a postal inspector came to see me. He asked what information I had. I told him I was not going to say anything until I had a deal for all charges to be dropped against LuAnn. He said he could not do that, but that he would pass the information on to his boss.

By John Spirko
Edited by Sheila Howard, JD Editor

Gibson was at large after having escaped from a jail in Kentucky, so I went to trial alone in July 1984.

The state's case tying me to the crime was my statements to Hartman, and two jailhouse snitches that were given sweetheart deals by the prosecution to testify that I confessed to them about Mottinger's murder. We found out later that one snitch had 85 years knocked off his sentence for testifying to those lies, while the other one had a deal with the prosecutor to be given an early release from prison for his perjurious testimony. Their favorable treatment was the quid pro quo for telling the lies the prosecutor wanted the jury to hear. Both of those snitches later directly or indirectly recanted their testimony.