TRUMBULL COUNTY Signatures sought to keep killer in prison

WARREN -- Signatures are being gathered in Trumbull County on a petition to the Ohio Parole Board for keeping Marie Poling, convicted of murdering her husband, behind bars.
In January 1988, Poling, of Warren, put a pillow over her sleeping husband's head and fatally shot him. She had taken a lover and decided the only way out of the marriage was to kill Richard Poling and collect his insurance.
She and Rafael Garcia, who also went to prison, disposed of the body -- decapitating it with an ax, and putting the head and torso in separate places in Washington County, Pa.
Poling is set for a parole hearing in Columbus in April. A petition strongly opposing any early release for her is available from Miriam Fife, court advocate, whose office is on the Trumbull County Courthouse's second floor. The number is (330) 675-2552.
People need only to sign their name and hometown; they need not be Ohio residents, Fife explained. She will fax the petition signatures to the parole board and has set a deadline of April 1.
Poling was convicted at trial of aggravated murder with a gun specification, and abuse of a corpse. Her sentence was life plus three years for the gun.
"Marie Poling is not deserving of a parole at this time, as no crime of this nature is justified with the serving of a minimum sentence," the petition states.