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Sword killer denied early prison release
Photo
Philip Mike
By ED RUNYAN
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.
Speaking on Mike’s behalf was his brother, a psychologist. Speaking against his release was the sister of the victim, Joe Furda, 40, of Youngstown.
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, poxlice 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.
Philip Mike had a drink with Furda earlier the night of the killing at the Blue Light Restaurant and Lounge on Belmont Avenue, police said.
While the men rode together in Mike’s car later, the men discussed clones, and Mike became convinced that Furda was a clone, Mike’s defense attorney said during the trial.
In asking Judge Stuard for early release, Mike wrote that he has “learned a trick to taking medication for a mental illness.”
He said, “The trick is to take low doses so the side effects will not be so great. The bad side effects of the medication is why I was not on my medications that night.”
Mike said if he were released, he could live with his mother “in Poland, Ohio.”
His prison term expires Feb. 18, 2017. He was convicted of aggravated robbery and voluntary manslaughter.