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Court asked to set execution date in ’86 murders
By MARC KOVAC
COLUMBUS
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Charles Lorraine
Prosecutors have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to set an execution date for a man convicted in the 1986 killings of an elderly Warren couple.
Charles Lorraine was sentenced to death for murdering Doris and Raymond Montgomery. In a motion filed with the high court Tuesday, Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins and Assistant Prosecutor LuWayne Annos argued that Lorraine has exhausted all of his state and federal remedies, and it is time to allow the death sentence to be carried out.
They wrote, “According to statistics compiled by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, [Lorraine] has been imprisoned 8,423 days since his two death sentences were imposed. In other words, it will be 25 years this year. Justice delayed has been justice denied to the survivors of Doris and Raymond Montgomery.”
According to documents, 77-year-old Raymond Montgomery and his 80-year-old wife, Doris, had hired Lorraine to complete jobs around their home. “Lorraine stabbed Mr. Montgomery five times with a butcher knife and stabbed Mrs. Montgomery, who was bedridden, nine times,” according to documents. “Lorraine stole their money, and when he spent all of the money that day, he returned to the Montgomerys’ house to steal again.”
Lorraine was convicted in 1986 and sentenced to death in for both murders. According to court documents, the state parole board recommended against clemency in the case in 1994 to then-Gov. George Voinovich. But Lorraine filed additional legal action, alleging that he was mentally retarded and could not be executed.
Subsequent proceedings on that issue tied up the case for years, until a January hearing, when Lorraine abandoned the effort.
At that time, he told reporters: “I’ll say and do whatever I need to do to stay alive,” and went on the clarify, “I’m not mentally retarded,” according to documents.
A trial court earlier this year concluded that Lorraine was not mentally retarded — a decision he has not yet appealed, according to documents.
“This guy was repeatedly tested, from age 6 until recently in 2006 and 2007, probably a dozen times,” Watkins said. “He’s never been and is not mentally retarded. ... There’s absolutely no claim of innocence. He’s been proven guilty beyond all doubt, and with his prior history and record and the plethora of witnesses, this is as solid as it’s going to get.”