COLUMBUS Board advises parole for man who killed wife

The victim's mother says Steven Masters is 'a master deceiver.'
By MICHELE C. HLADIK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Nearly 24 years after being convicted and sentenced to life in prison, Steven Masters has been recommended for parole.
Masters "has now served almost 24 years of a life sentence," Ohio Parole Board documents read. "He has consistently obeyed prison rules and has used his time for constructive purposes. He is referred to a Central Office Board Review with a recommendation for parole."
In 1980, Masters, then 20, was sentenced to life in prison for the aggravated murder of his 19-year-old wife, Jodi; and six to 25 years for aggravated arson. It was believed he set fire to the Boardman home he shared with Jodi to cover up the Feb. 15, 1979 murder. She had been shot in her bedroom. Authorities believed Masters wanted to collect money from a large insurance policy on her.
Masters is housed at the Pickaway Correctional Institution in Orient.
Parole board member Robert Maszczynski is listed on the board documents as the hearing panel. According to JoEllen Culp, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, hearing panels typically only consist of one or two board members.
The process
She said the panel meets with the inmate and presents a recommendation to the Central Office Board Review, which is composed of a majority of the parole board members, but not necessarily all of them.
Culp said the board has 60 to 90 days to review the information, which it typically does through paperwork. She said the decision is usually made at that time.
She added there is no way to tell which direction the board will take, because each case is different.
"It's really difficult to speculate," she said. "Each case is weighed upon its own factors."
According to board documents, Masters is listed as having no disciplinary infractions during his incarceration and no previous criminal history.
But Jodi's mother, Joy Thomas, doesn't agree with Maszczynski's recommendation. "We didn't give her up, she was taken away," Thomas said -- adding that to her knowledge, Masters has never admitted guilt or shown any remorse.
Thomas also said she believes Masters' good behavior was insincere, simply his plan to get parole.
"He's a master deceiver," she said.
She said she fears for the lives of her family members and those in her Canfield community if Masters is released on parole.
Was surprised
Thomas also expressed surprise at Maszczynski's recommendation and said that while she had a feeling this day could come, it was still a surprise.
She said that in the past, she has collected signatures on petitions, newspaper articles and carefully worded letters urging the parole board to reject his requests for parole. She said she may take another chance at writing parole board members as well as Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections Director Reginald Wilkinson.
"This case is never going to die," Thomas said. "It was too horrendous."
Don Hanni, the attorney who represented Masters at his original trial, is in Florida and could not be reached to comment on Maszczynski's recommendation.