Killer in Cincinnati stabbing asks parole board for mercy

COLUMBUS (AP) — Attorneys for a death row inmate sentenced to die for fatally stabbing a 67-year-old man are asking the Ohio Parole Board for mercy for their client.

Raymond Tibbetts is scheduled for execution in April. He was convicted of killing Fred Hicks at Hicks’ Cincinnati home in 1997.

The parole board met Tuesday to hear arguments for and against clemency for Tibbetts.

Tibbetts’ attorneys provided the board family testimony and psychological evidence of the impact that Tibbetts’ traumatic and chaotic childhood had on his adult life.

Hamilton County prosecutors argue that what Tibbetts went through doesn’t outweigh the brutality of his crimes, which also included beating his wife, Judith Crawford, to death.

Tibbetts was sentenced to death for killing Hicks and life imprisonment without parole for Crawford’s slaying.