Condemned killer of three requests mercy

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

An Ohio inmate with Nazi sympathies who has spent 27 years on death row for killing three men at Cleveland State University is asking the state’s new governor for mercy, with his attorneys saying a severe mood disorder went undiagnosed for decades.

If put to death Feb. 17, Frank Spisak would set the Ohio record for the longest time on death row before execution.

Spisak, 59, blamed the 1982 murders on his hatred of gays, blacks and Jews and also claimed his crimes were sparked by mental illness related to confusion about his sexual identity.

During his 1983 trial, he grew a Hitler-style mustache, carried a copy of Hitler’s book, “Mein Kampf” during the proceedings and gave the Nazi salute to the jury.

His attorneys asked the Ohio Parole Board Thursday to spare his life, saying he suffers from a severe bipolar mood disorder that was not diagnosed until years after he was convicted. Spisak is housed on a prison unit in Mansfield reserved for death row inmates being treated for mental illnesses.

The lawyers argue the information could have led jurors to consider a different sentence.

“To go forward with this execution would represent a departure from the strong societal consensus that the death penalty should be reserved for the worst of the worst, and that we arguably demean ourselves when we impose it on the severely mentally ill,” Spisak’s attorneys, Alan Rossman and Michael Benza, said in their statement to the board.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason said it’s dubious to diagnose Spisak with the mood disorder now when numerous doctors before and after trial failed to detect it.

Mason said Spisak has never taken full responsibility for the killings.

“Spisak’s attempt to blame his actions on either being bipolar or being confused about his sexual identity are ways he can again try to place the blame on something other than where it belongs — on his own conduct,” Mason said in a filing with the parole board.

Spisak’s plea to spare his life will be the first death penalty case to come before newly sworn-in Republican Gov. John Kasich. The board’s decision is expected next Friday.