Liberty man denied parole in clone murder case

WARREN

A former Liberty Township man sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2001 for killing and robbing another man who he claimed was a clone was denied early release from prison Thursday.

Individuals spoke for and against the early release of Philip J. Mike, 46, during a hearing in the courtroom of Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Mike killed Furda on Feb. 23, 2000, in a wooded area of Liberty. Mike, a Liberty High School graduate with a 4.0 grade-point average who attended Case Western Reserve, Ohio State and Youngstown State universities, used a 3-foot sword on Furda’s neck, police said.

Mike, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, a mental disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur or persecution, was off his medication at the time of the killing, his brother, Dr. John Mike, told Judge Stuard during his brother’s trial.

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