Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Ohio executes man who fatally stabbed teen in 1985
LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Ohio on Wednesday executed a man for fatally stabbing the 15-year-old son of his former employers during a 1985 farmhouse burglary, marking the state’s first execution in six months.
Forty-nine-year-old Mark Wiles died by lethal injection at 10:42 a.m., ending an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty that occurred while the state and a federal judge wrangled over Ohio’s lethal injection procedures. It was the 47th execution since Ohio resumed putting inmates to death in 1999.
Wiles, looking haggard with a sparse, cropped gray beard and shaven head, stared at witnesses for a few moments when he entered the death chamber. A few minutes later, strapped to the gurney and IV lines inserted into his arms, he raised his head and looked at witnesses again.
“Since this needs to be happening, truly I pray that my dying brings some solace and closure to the Klima family and their loved ones,” he said.
He also thanked his family for their love and support.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Vindicator or vindy.com