Finalities set before scheduled execution

At least 21 relatives were to visit the condemned man.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
LUCASVILLE -- Condemned killer Willie Williams will be able to meet with family members this morning, just hours before he is scheduled to be put to death for the execution-style slayings of four men in Youngstown in 1991 in what became known as the "Labor Day Massacre."
Williams, 48, also known as "Flip," arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility at 9:48 a.m. Monday from the Mansfield Correctional Institution where he had been held, said Larry Greene, an SOCF spokesman.
Until his scheduled execution at 10 a.m. today, Williams is expected to spend most of his time in a holding cell just steps from the Death Chamber, where he is to die by lethal injection, prison officials said.
"He seems to be in a calm, positive frame of mind," Greene said. "He is in good spirits."
Williams met with family in cell-front visits from about 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., Greene said. Williams was set to meet in so-called "contact visits" -- visits without any partition or barrier -- from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Greene said.
Prison officials said at least 21 family members were to meet with the convicted killer Monday.
The visitors included his mother, Joyce Williams, his sister, June Williams, and various children and other family members, according to prison officials. Williams was also to meet with a prison spiritual or religious adviser, Greene said.
Taft denies clemency
Earlier Monday, Republican Gov. Bob Taft denied clemency for Williams.
Taft said he reviewed the material, including the report from the Ohio Parole Board that urged the governor to deny clemency for Williams.
"Following a thorough review of the judicial opinions, the report and the recommendation of the Ohio Parole Board, recommendations from the Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Mahoning County prosecutor's office and other relevant materials, I can find no compelling reason to grant clemency," the governor said in a statement.
Williams declined a "special meal," prison officials said. But he will be allowed to eat whatever the prison serves for breakfast this morning, they said.
Williams will have access to a Bible and Quran in his holding cell.
Joe Wilhelm, Williams' lawyer and chief of the death penalty section for the Ohio Public Defender's Office, said, at his client's request, he will not attend the execution and that no further legal fights are planned.
"We discussed it and he declined," Wilhelm said.
The process
Today, after Williams is prepared by the prison's execution team and after he is led into the death chamber, three fluids will be injected into his veins as the death sentence is carried out, according to officials.
First, prison officials said, sodium pentothal will be injected to render Williams unconscious; then, pancuronium bromide will be injected to stop his breathing; and finally potassium chloride will be injected to stop his heart.
Prison officials were still trying to finalize late Monday who will witness Williams' execution, representing both Williams and his victims.
Recap of the crime
Williams, who authorities said used to control a major drug-trafficking operation on Youngstown's North and East sides, was convicted in the killing of William "Lamont" Dent, Alfonda "Al" R. Madison Sr. and Eric Howard as part of what authorities say was a drug-related dispute. Williams also was convicted of killing Theodore "Teddy" Wynn Jr., who authorities say was an acquaintance of one of the other victims.
The four were found dead in a Youngstown home.
Three teen accomplices aided Williams, investigators said. Each victim was killed with gunshots to the head, according to investigators.
After Williams' capture, he and other prisoners escaped from the Mahoning County Jail, court records say.
After months on the run, Williams surrendered to authorities in early 1992 after he and other accomplices armed with guns and explosives invaded the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center. At the time, the JJC held the three teen accomplices who were to testify against Williams, investigators and court records say.
In August 1993, a jury convicted Williams on multiple charges including aggravated murder and sentenced him to death.
State and federal courts have upheld Williams' conviction and death sentences.
Since 1999, Ohio has executed 17 men, state officials say. The latest was Herman Dale Ashworth on Sept. 27. He was convicted of aggravated murder in Licking County.