Ohio Executions: Wilford Berry The Volunteer

He was sentenced to death for the murder of his former employer Charles Mitroff, Jr.

Prosecutors called Berry, "The Volunteer" because he had said he would rather die than remain on death row pursuing appeals that would fail. Berry became the 1st inmate to be put to death in Ohio since 1963; the death penalty was reinstated there in 1981.

"Wilford Berry had a lifelong history of being mentally ill since age 9,

"He tried to kill himself, and he was brutalized by several adults" as a child.

He was also raped as an adult in prison.

Wilford Berry Jr. died with his eyes open and a mumble - perhaps a prayer - on his lips as he lapsed into unconsciousness before his lungs claimed their last sustenance and his heart fell still.

A white nylon curtain separating the death chamber from the witness rooms was
whisked shut to confirm the deed was done.

Southern Ohio Correctional Facility Warden Stephen Huffman then reopened the curtain and announced simply: 'Wilford Berry was pronounced dead by a physician at 9:31 p.m., Feb, 19, 1999.'

And a mother cried. Jennie Franklin, mother of the convicted killer, sobbed as Huffman's pronouncement underlined the reality of what she had just witnessed from four feet away. With a dose of lethal drugs that worked within nine minutes, the state of Ohio - on behalf of the people of Ohio - had resumed its use of capital punishment after an absence of nearly 36 years.

The appearance of the news media witnesses to Berry's execution confirmed he had died without a word being spoken. They stood uneasy and unsettled against a wall before relating what they had seen. A reporter from a Cleveland TV station had red eyes rimmed with tears.
Even William Florio, a private detective and friend of the Mitroff family chosen to witness Berry's death on their behalf, had cried at the fallout of the death of a man he wished dead. 'The only thing, when the mother cried out, that bothered me,' Florio conceded, the moisture in his eyes obvious.

Berry, a tragic figure in life - the product of a torturous childhood from which his mental illness festered - Berry remained one in death.

He was a man who preferred an afterlife to more life behind the bars in jail.

Outside the prison, death penalty protestors, before 9 p.m., offered prayers that Berry be spared. After that hour they asked God to claim his soul. Some cried.

It is cheaper to incarcerate a murderer for the rest of his/her life than to execute him or her. Statistics show that the average cost for 40 years of prison is $600,000 to $700,000. An execution normally runs $2 million to $3.2 million dollars. The State of Ohio spent at least $1.5 million to kill Wilford Berry who wanted to be executed. Among the costs were: $18,147 overtime for prison employees and $2,250 overtime for State Highway Patrol officers at the time of execution. This does not include overtime for 25 prison public information officers who worked the night of the execution and $88.42 for the lethal drugs.

Attorney General Betty Montgomery had 5-15 prosecutors working on the case.

Between 5 and 10% of the annual budget for the state's capital-crimes section was devoted to the Berry case for 5 years. Keeping Berry in prison for his entire life would have cost approximately half as much.

(Columbus Dispatch, 2/28/99)

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