Ohio Supreme Court affirms death penalty for Fingerhut killer

COLUMBUS

The state’s high court has affirmed the death sentence of a Trumbull County man, re-sentenced for the 2001 murder of his then-girlfriend’s ex-husband.

In a 6-1 decision today, a majority of Ohio Supreme Court justices found that Nathaniel Jackson’s death penalty was “both appropriate and proportionate when compared with capital cases involving aggravated murder during an aggravated murder” and that an error made by the trial court was harmless and corrected under review by justices.

According to documents, Jackson and Donna Roberts planned the murder of 57-year-old Robert Fingerhut for months, hoping to collect $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 later were ordered to be re-sentenced after it was determined the prosecutor’s office assisted in writing the original opinion in the case. Roberts’ death sentence has been vacated twice.

Read more about the case in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.