Arguments underway in 2001 death sentence case

COLUMBUS — A Trumbull County man facing execution for a 2001 murder of his then-girlfriend’s ex-husband has again asked the Ohio Supreme Court to vacate his death sentence.

It’s the second time justices have reviewed the sentence of Nathaniel Jackson, whose case was remanded by an appeals court for resentencing after it was determined that prosecutors assisted in writing the judge’s original opinion.

According to documents, Jackson and Donna Roberts planned the murder of 57-year-old Robert Fingerhut for months, with an eye toward $550,000 in insurance money. Roberts provided Jackson with access to the Howland home she and Fingerhut shared, where Jackson shot the victim multiple times.

Both Roberts and Jackson received death penalties but were later ordered to be resentenced. Roberts’ death sentence has been vacated twice.

Jackson’s legal counsel has raised numerous issues with the death sentence, urging the state’s high court to again vacate the penalty.