The Ohio Parole Board has tentatively scheduled the release of two men who have spent 21 years in prison on convictions for killing another man in 1988.

Staff report

WARREN

The Ohio Parole Board has tentatively scheduled the release of two Weathersfield Township men who have spent 21 years in prison on convictions for killing another man in 1988.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins has asked for a full parole board hearing for the men, Mark Badilo and Jeff McClure, both 44.

The board last considered parole for the two in April 2011, ordering them to r emain in prison two more years before their next hearing.

In a letter sent to the parole board this week, Watkins said he and the police chiefs in Hubbard and Howland townships and Sheriff Thomas Altiere believe releasing the two now would “demean the seriousness of the offenses and endanger others including the informant whose information and active cooperation led to the arrest and conviction of both individuals.”

Howland Police Chief Paul Monroe participated in the investigation as part of the countywide homicide task force.

The informant wrote a letter in 2011 in which he said he would be concerned for his safety if the two were released. “Both families of those two were upset for me doing this,” he wrote.

Badilo and McClure were convicted of killing Badilo’s brother, Tim Badilo, Feb. 24, 1988, at McClure’s house on Broadway Street in Weathersfield Township. Badilo and McClure were both 19 at the time they killed Tim Badilo, 23, of DeForest Road.

Mark Badilo said the reason for the murder was that the elder Badilo had squandered money from the janitorial business they were running, and the younger Badilo wanted his brother out of the way so he could take over the business.