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John Spirko Granted Fifth Reprieve From Gov. Taft
by Abigail
Sunday, Oct. 22, 2006 at 3:34 PM
On October 20th, Governor Taft signed a reprieve, a delayment in the execution of John Spirko, from Nov. 29th of this year until April 17, 2007 at the request of the Ohio Attorney General so that DNA testing of the evidence could be fully carried out.
John Spirko, a man on Ohio's death row, is requesting clemency from Gov. Bob Taft for a crime he says he didn't committ. He was already granted a stay of exucution once in July so the courts could review more evidence in the case, and three other reprieves prior to that.
John is convicted of the murder of postwoman Betty Jane Mottinger, who was abducgted from the Elgin OH post office in 1982. He was convicted solely on the testimony of US Postal Inspector Paul Harman who alleged John Spirko was acting along with his friend, Delaney Gibson. After John Spirko was found guilty and put on death row, Paul Harman thought it safe to tell people that he knew all along Delaney Gibson had nothing to do with it and that he was acting together with the prosecuting team to convict John Spirko.
It has also been discovered that evidence during John's trial was witheld by the state, evidence that could have in no way linked him to the crime. Paul Hartman retired early from the US postal service because numerous postal inspectors filed complaints against him. One such complaint accused him of conspiring to put away an innocent man.
The history of the case goes like this: John Spirko was acquaintence to some pretty shady people and was at a party the night some folks came back who had robbed the Elgin post office. But that, according to him, is all he knew.
Caught in the middle of a mess, he was called into questioning in a matter related to his girlfriend. He finally agreed to tell them what they wanted to hear in order that his girlfriend would get a lenient sentence. He did not confess to killing Betty Jane but the things he said were later used in court against him as the prosecution was trying to prove he was an accomplice to his frined Delaney Gibson.
The prosecutor's story was a hard one to uphold since John was visiting his probation officer the morning Betty Jane was murdered and was with his sister all day, taking her to the doctor. His probation officer, sister, and doctor all testified on his behalf that he was where he said he was on the day the crime was committed.
Despite all this, because of his written statements under pressure from the authorities, he was found guilty and sentenced to die in 1984. If he is not found to be innocent, his execution will take place in April, 2007. For more information and updates on his case, go to http://www.Johnspirko.com
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