Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday delayed the three remaining executions that were scheduled for this year.
The Republican governor is making good on his promise of no executions in 2021. He cited no source for lethal injection drugs and lack of movement by lawmakers in making a switch in execution method a priority.
In a December interview with The Associated Press, DeWine said lethal injection is no longer an option for Ohio executions, and lawmakers must choose a different method of capital punishment before any inmates can be put to death in the future.
The statement was the first time the lifelong conservative and pro-life lawmaker made a definitive stance on the death penalty in Ohio.
DeWine said in the interview that he still supports capital punishment as state law. But he has come to question its value since the days he helped write the state’s current law — enacted in 1981 — because of the long delays between crime and punishment.
The state’s last execution was July 18, 2018, when Ohio put to death Robert Van Hook for killing David Self in Cincinnati in 1985.
The executions that were delayed Friday were for Timothy L. Hoffner, sentenced for a 1993 murder in Toledo; John David Stumpf, convicted in 1945 murder in Guernsey County; and Lawrence A. Landrum, sentenced to death for a 1985 murder in Ross County.
All three executions have been rescheduled for 2024.
