Vrabel executed Death was pronounced at 10:14 a.m.

By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Murderer Stephen A. Vrabel died at 10:14 a.m. today, with an apology for anyone he may have wronged in his life.
The execution took place at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
At 9:54 a.m., witnesses were moved into a viewing area of the execution chamber. Lights were dim over a table that rested at an angle. A small digital clock hung on the wall above.
In March 1989, Vrabel killed his live-in girlfriend, 28-year-old Susan Clemente, and their daughter, Lisa, 3, in Struthers.
Six members of the Clemente family were seated in one viewing room; on the other side of the partition were Vrabel's sister Karen Koval and her son Greg.
Standing between the two viewing rooms were five representatives of the press, for television, radio and print.
At 9:57 a.m., TV monitors in each witness room showed Vrabel lying on a bed to have shunts placed in each arm.
Greg Koval stood with his arm around his mother to watch the process.
Only the sound of reporters' notebook pages flipping could be heard. The prison gave media witnesses notebooks, pens and pencils and told them to leave their own notebooks in the media center.
Vrabel, 47, lay with his right leg crossed over his left; whatever sound he made was not heard by the witnesses because only his color image was seen.
In execution chamber
At 10:06 a.m. Vrabel got off the bed, walked quickly to the execution chamber and lay down.
Four sets of straps were used to secure him to the table. He kept his eyes open and looked to his left at his sister and nephew. She mouthed, "I love you," and blew him a kiss.
He smiled.
The warden held a microphone near Vrabel's mouth to broadcast his last words. Vrabel said, "I want to thank my sister for all the joy and happiness she brought into Lisa's life. And I want to apologize to anyone I may have wronged in my life."
At this point, the lethal injection process began. The drugs used to kill Vrabel were thiopental sodium, which put him to sleep; pancuronium bromide, which stopped his breathing; and potassium chloride, which stopped his heart.
Vrabel's eyes fluttered; his chest heaved with deep breathing.
At 10:10 a.m. his eyes closed. There was no movement except barely discernible breathing. His sister swayed as she stood and watched.
At 10:11 there was no movement at all. His fingers curled inward, then two minutes later the curtain was drawn, obscuring for the witnesses a check by the coroner.
The curtain opened at 10:15 and the warden declared that death had occurred a minute earlier.
Throughout the execution, the Clemente witnesses were quiet, showing little if any reaction. Vrabel did not look at them.
Clemente family statement
After the execution, Kenneth Koutouch, Susan's brother-in-law, read a statement for the press. Behind him stood Susan's parents and other family and friends -- 19 in all.
"Susan and Lisa Clemente have finally been put to rest after 15 years of legal battles with the court system," Koutouch said. "They both can rest in peace now knowing that this nightmare has finally come to an end.
"Today is all about Susan and Lisa Clemente, the victims of this horrible and devastating tragedy -- and justice has been served upon the person who brutally murdered them. There were no winners today, there was only justice. There will be no closure today because Susan and Lisa Clemente will never be forgotten by the Clemente family. Their spirits will live on in each and every member of this family."
Norma Clemente, Susan's mother, dabbed at her eyes as did others while Koutouch read the statement. The family then left, declining to answer reporters' questions.
A few death-penalty protesters were at the prison this morning.
Burial in Chillicothe
Vrabel, formerly of Struthers and the first inmate from Mahoning County to be put to death since 1948, will be buried at a cemetery on the grounds of the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. His sister will attend the graveside service scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday.
He becomes the state's 13th inmate to die by lethal injection since February 1999 and the second "volunteer" -- having waived further appeals.
Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said the cost of an execution by lethal injection is $66.43.
Final hours
Green said Vrabel spent a quiet night and watched the Major League Baseball All-Star game, had a ham and cheese sandwich and fell asleep at 12:23 a.m.
He awoke at 5:07 a.m. and had a breakfast of two hard-boiled eggs, toast with jelly, grits, milk, coffee and juice. After breakfast, he showered and then visited with Karen Koval, a Philadelphia resident, until 8 a.m., when he met with a spiritual adviser, Kevin Littler.
Vrabel, who had been incarcerated at the Mansfield Correctional Institution, arrived at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, Dean said. She described him as "very compliant" with the process and "in a solemn mood."
For dinner at 4 p.m. Tuesday, his "special meal," Vrabel ordered a BLT with extra mayonnaise, ham and cheese omelet with extra cheese, two hot dogs with mustard, pork and beans, potato salad, vanilla ice cream, chocolate pudding and six Cokes.
From 4:30 p.m. to around 7 p.m., Vrabel visited with Karen and Greg Koval. Dean said Vrabel was "anxious to see her."
Killed March 3, 1989
The execution ends a 15-year saga that began March 3, 1989, with Vrabel buying a Jennings .22-caliber handgun "for no particular reason" except that he always wanted a gun, he said.
That evening, after drinking beer and smoking marijuana, he got the gun from a hall closet and fired one shot into Susan's head as she walked toward the kitchen in their apartment. He fired another round into her head then turned the gun on Lisa, who had begun "freaking out."
Wanderings
Vrabel took the gun and spent the night in a Liberty motel. The next day, he drove Susan's 1976 Plymouth to Wheeling, W.Va., and left it there. He took a bus to Columbus and spent the night in a hotel near Ohio State University.
The following morning, March 5, he took a bus back to Wheeling, picked up the car and drove back to the Struthers apartment. He poured floor stripper over the bodies because they smelled, then went to sleep.
The next day, March 6, he wrapped the bodies in sheets and blankets and emptied the refrigerator. He put Susan in the refrigerator and Lisa in the freezer with two stuffed teddy bears.
Throughout March, he stayed at the apartment they had rented from Susan's sister and brother-in-law.
Vrabel left the apartment April 4, 1989, to stay in a Liberty motel, then at a motel in Austintown.
Susan's body was discovered when her brother-in-law went to collect two months' rent April 5, smelled the cleaning fluids, noticed the place was a mess and opened the refrigerator. Lisa's body was found when police arrived.
Turned himself in
Vrabel, driving to Parma the next day, heard on the radio that police were looking for him. He approached the pastor of St. Charles Church in Parma and admitted killing Susan and Lisa.
The priest accompanied Vrabel to the Parma police station, where he confessed. He also confessed to Struthers police, saying only, "Sometimes when I drink, things happen."
During an interview with The Vindicator, Vrabel's mother, Helen, now deceased, suggested maybe he snapped. She described him as a warm and affectionate son who earned high grades at Cardinal Mooney High School.
At the time of the killings, Vrabel was a year away from earning a bachelor's degree in social work at Youngstown State University. A professor described him as a bright, mature and well-mannered gentleman.
Vrabel, after being indicted on two counts of aggravated murder in April 1989, was found incompetent to stand trial. He was committed to the Timothy B. Moritz Center in 1990 and remained there until 1994.
Competent to stand trial
On Aug. 30, 1994, he was deemed competent to stand trial.
Before being moved back to Mahoning County from a psychiatric hospital in Sagamore Hills, he escaped. He was picked up within a day in downtown Cleveland, where he'd gone to a lawyer's officer and called the hospital.
In October 1995, a jury convicted him and he was sentenced to death.
The routine run of appeals followed. He was scheduled to die Sept. 30, 2003, but the Ohio Supreme Court delayed it pending a mental evaluation and competency hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Four months ago, Vrabel waived further appeals.
Psychiatric experts deemed him competent. One report said Vrabel "is spiritually and psychologically preparing for his death."
At a clemency hearing last month, members of the Ohio Adult Parole Authority recommended that clemency not be granted. The panel noted that Vrabel did not request and did not want his life to be spared.
meade@vindy.com