Lawyer: State to ask for delay of inmate's execution

Petro informed the attorneys of death row prisoner John Spirko in a letter Monday about his willingness to conduct the testing and his intention to ask Taft to push back Spirko's execution by two months, said James Canepa, chief of Petro's criminal justice division.

Petro's letter does not indicate what evidence would be tested.

Spirko is scheduled to die by injection Nov. 15 for the 1982 killing of Betty Jane Mottinger, 48, the postmistress in Elgin in northwest Ohio. She was abducted and repeatedly stabbed, then wrapped in a tarp and dumped in a field. Her body was found three weeks later.

Spirko sued in federal court Wednesday to require the testing of the tarp, a cement block found near Mottinger's body and duct tape wrapped around her.

The Ohio Parole Board already had granted an unprecedented second clemency hearing for Spirko, and on Oct. 19 voted 6-3 to recommend that Taft allow the execution to proceed. The majority said the claims of new evidence aren't enough to merit clemency.

The delay is encouraging, said Alvin Dunn, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney for Spirko.

"We're looking forward to having this completed and believe it will demonstrate that our client had nothing to do with this crime," he said.

Messages were left with Taft seeking comment.

www.cleveland.com