DNA tests don't solve case of inmate requesting 6th reprieve
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio - DNA tests failed to produce conclusive evidence in a 1982 murder in which Gov. Ted Strickland is considering a sixth reprieve for a death row inmate to allow more time for testing, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Among the items tested, blood on duct tape used to wrap the victim and hair samples both matched slain northwest Ohio postmistress Betty Jane Mottinger, The Columbus Dispatch said. The newspaper obtained the results through a public-records request to Attorney General Marc Dann's office.
At the request of John Spirko's attorneys, Dann asked Strickland on Friday to delay Spirko's scheduled execution for four months.
Spirko, scheduled to die April 17, would have his execution date pushed to August should Strickland grant the request.
That means almost two years would have passed since Spirko, who says he is innocent, received his first reprieve from then-Gov. Bob Taft in September 2005.
"In our effort towards developing all useful information for Spirko, as well as for the Gov.'s clemency decision, we continue to accommodate Spirko's ongoing requests for forensic testing," Heather Gosselin, head of Dann's death penalty division, said in a letter to Strickland's chief legal counsel.
Dann told The Dispatch was willing to give more time for testing because the case is "totally dependent on circumstantial evidence."
Spirko, 60, was convicted based on witness statements and his own comments to investigators.
No physical evidence ties him to the killing and charges against a co-defendant who linked him to the murder have been dropped.
Courts at all levels have previously upheld his conviction and death sentence.
In addition to the tape and hair samples, DNA tests were performed on cigarette butts collected in and around Mottinger's post office in Elgin, Mottinger's clothes and a cord and tarp also used to wrap the body. Spirko's boots, handkerchief, socks and underwear also were tested.
In a letter to Spirko's attorneys on Nov. 7, 2005, then-Attorney General Jim Petro predicted the DNA wouldn't prove the inmate's guilt or innocence.
Defense attorney Thomas Hill said tests confirmed "what we knew all along - that it wasn't going to be John Spirko's DNA."
"We certainly contend the entire body of evidence and the history of the case overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that Mr. Spirko is innocent and was wrongfully convicted," Hill said.
www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/16843921.htm