Vicious killer should die

Kenneth Biros, like some other local murderers who come to mind, should already been dead.
Biros earned his execution back in February 1991 when he beat, stabbed and strangled 22-year-old Tami Engstrom of Brookfield Township. He then dismembered her, scattering parts of her body in Pennsylvania.
Biros has managed to avoid the executioner for 15 years from the date he was found guilty and was sentenced to die, which is just about the average length of time that someone who has been executed in Ohio manages to avoid paying the price for his crimes.
Indeed, a death row inmate in Ohio -- and there are more than 200 of them -- is just as likely to die of natural causes in prison as he is to be executed. The last report available on the status of Ohio's prisoners awaiting the death penalty was issue for the year 2005 by Attorney General Jim Petro. It showed that since 1981, 19 inmates have been executed and 19 have died of natural causes.
The greatest injustice was committed by former Gov. Richard Celeste, just a few weeks before Biros murdered Mrs. Engstrom. As he left office, Celeste commuted the death sentences of eight inmates, including the only four women on death row. Only one other death sentence has been commuted since Ohio's death penalty was reinstated in 1981.
Two-pronged attack
Biros, meanwhile is seeking to avoid execution in two ways. U.S. Judge Gregory L. Frost of the Southern District of Ohio has delayed Biros' execution until a further order from the court, as part of a case challenging the constitutionality of Ohio's lethal injection executions.
He has also sought clemency from the governor. The Ohio Parole Board will make a recommendation to incoming Gov. Ted Strickland on that request.
It appears Biros will cheat death, at least for a while. Even if the federal injunction were lifted before the scheduled execution date of Jan. 23, Strickland will have less than two weeks to consider Biros' request for clemency after receiving the parole board's recommendation, whatever it may be.
Enforcing the death penalty is a duty of Ohio's governor and one that must be taken seriously. Just as it was wrong for Celeste to commute sentences in 1991 without due consideration of the consequences, it would be wrong for Strickland to enforce the death penalty without devoting sufficient time to a study of the case before him.
Strickland may find it necessary to take more than a week or two to study the Biros case, but he should move as expeditiously as possible to enforce justice. And all the evidence suggests that justice will be served only with the execution of Biros.