Board: No clemency for Biros

Biros Clemency

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Post-clemency comments to the press by Debi Heiss and Tommy Heiss, sister and brother of Tami Engstrom, Biros' murder victim.

Mary Jane Heiss statement

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Mary Jane Heiss, Tami Engstrom’s mother, was too ill to make the trip to Columbus Monday but gave a taped statement that was played for the board. She plans to be on hand for Biros’ execution.

Biros is scheduled for execution next month, but further delays are likely.

By Marc Kovac

COLUMBUS — The state parole board has again recommended against clemency for convicted murderer Kenneth Biros.

The unanimous decision was given to Gov. Ted Strickland on Tuesday. He will make the final call on whether to commute the death sentence of the Trumbull County man to life in prison without parole.

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 two Pennsylvania counties.

“Following careful examination of all available factors in this case, the parole board has determined that a change in its previous unfavorable recommendation is not warranted,” board members noted in their decision. “The parole board maintains the conclusions indicated in its previous report and further concludes that a reprieve is not appropriate.”

They added: “The courts are the most appropriate place to decide whether additional time is warranted before execution to further litigate the issues surrounding lethal injection.”

Two years ago, Strickland denied clemency in the case, shortly before Biros’ execution was stayed by federal court action.

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.

Biros is scheduled for execution next month, but a stay in the case and expected legal wranglings over the state’s new lethal- injection protocol likely mean further delays.

Legal counsel for Biros told the parole board earlier this month that Biros was sorry and remorseful for Engstrom’s death and the pain and suffering he has caused the victim’s family.

Counsel also argued that Biros has displayed “sincere spiritual growth” while in prison and has been a model inmate.

But Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins told the board that Biros still blames the victim for the crime and is “taking less responsibility than ever before” for the murder. He added that Biros showed no mercy to his victim, subjecting Engstrom to 91 pre-mortem injuries before sexually abusing and dismembering her body.

Members of Engstrom’s family also asked that the execution be allowed to move forward and justice be carried out in the case.

mkovac@dixcom.com