The Ohio Parole Board was deciding on Thursday whether to go through with scheduled execution of a man accused in the slaying of a 72-year-old woman.
Joseph Murphy, 46, was asking for mercy after he was sentenced to Death Row for the slaying of Ruth Predmore 24 years ago, 10TV’s Jessa Goddard reported.
Officials said that Murphy’s aunt, Cynthia Hodges, asked the Ohio Parole Board to consider the facts of Murphy’s childhood.
Hodges claimed Murphy was starved and sexually abused as a child.
“Joey was always made to eat last. If there was food left, they let him eat,” Murphy said. “If there wasn't, she did not let him eat."
One of the allegations the board was considering was the claim that Murphy’s father traded Murphy for sex with another man when he was six years old in order to get a jug of moonshine.
Defense lawyers for Murphy also cited the narrow Ohio Supreme Court decision in 1992 that upheld Murphy's death sentence.
Former Supreme Court Justice Herbert Brown is the only living justice of the dissenting three, which also included the late former Chief Justice Thomas Moyer.
The victim's great niece who testified via video, said her family suffered as well.
"It wasn't just Joey being on Death Row these 25 years. I've sat on Death Row and so did my family,” Peg Predmore-Kavanagh said.
The board will issue its recommendation to Governor John Kasich next Friday.
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Victim’s Relatives Say Death Row Inmate Does Not Deserve To Die
A Death Row inmate is begging for mercy and the Ohio Parole Board is deciding whether he deserves to die. Get details.
