Parole board hears killer Biros’ case on Monday

COLUMBUS — The state parole board next week will hear arguments on whether to commute the death sentence of a Trumbull County man convicted in a brutal 1991 murder.

Monday’s hearing on Kenneth Biros is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s central office in Columbus.

It’s the second time the panel has considered whether to allow Biros to live out his days behind bars or face execution. The last time, in early 2007, the parole board recommended against a commutation, and Gov. Ted Strickland denied the clemency request.

Biros was actually transported to the death house at the Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville at that time, but last-minute court actions delayed his execution.

He is scheduled to make the trip again next month, though a stay issued by a federal court will likely mean another delay.

Biros, 51, was convicted in the February 1991 murder of Tami Engstrom, a 22-year-old woman he offered to drive home from a Masury bar. The victim was murdered, mutilated and dismembered, with parts of her body scattered in western Pennsylvania, according to documents.

Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said Biros was interviewed by parole board members late last month.

Biros will be represented by attorneys John P. Parker and Timothy F. Sweeney. Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins and eight representatives of the state attorney general’s office will represent the state.

Six family members and friends of Engstrom also plan to attend, including her sister, Debi Heiss, and mother-in-law, Pat Engstrom.