Taft delays Spirko execution to allow for DNA tests

Gov. Bob Taft this morning granted a fifth consecutive reprieve for Spirko. His new execution date is April 17, 2007, delayed from Nov. 29.

Spirko, 60, is under a death sentence for the abduction and murder 24 years ago of Betty Jane Mottinger, a postmistress from the small town of Elgin in northwest Ohio.

Attorney General Jim Petro requested the delay to allow more time for DNA testing and Taft this morning granted it. The testing has already been underway for nearly a year.

"It is my hope that the additional time permits the completion of the DNA testing and analysis agreed upon by the attorney general and Mr. Spirko's counsel," Taft said in a statement.

Taft will leave office early next year after serving two, 4-year terms. During his tenure in office, 23 men have been executed since 1999. He granted one clemency.

Spirko's attorneys, who say he is innocent, requested extensive DNA testing of the trap used to wrap Mottinger's body, hairs attached to the duct tape, 100 cigarette butts and rags found in a nearby farm field.

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