Cases and articles

By GREG SOWINSKI
419-993-2090
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09.19.2004

John Spirko has sat on Ohio's death row for more than 20 years while attorneys appeal his conviction for the 1982 killing of Elgin Postmistress Betty Jane Mottinger in Van Wert County.

Spirko has the 11th most seniority among death row inmates, shy of the top by 14 months even though the date of his crime, Aug. 9, 1982, is the third oldest among inmates on death row.

Like many others on death row, Spirko, who is 58, is running out of time. 
    

By DIANE PACETTI
419-993-2084
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09.18.2004

When it comes to killing people - legally - Ohio ain't no Texas.
But at times it has seemed that way. 

That's really where we started when we began working on a story about the death penalty in Ohio. After all, before Wilford Berry's execution in 1999, the death penalty hadn't been used in this state since 1963.

This report catalogs the emergence of innocence as the most important issue in the long-simmering death penalty debate.  The sheer number of cases and the pervasive awareness of this trend in the public?s consciousness have changed the way capital punishment is perceived around the country.

Clive is going to be live on BBC Radio 5 this morning after 11:00 UK time.
Though it will be online later also.