COLUMBUS — Governor John Kasich has delayed the execution of a death row inmate who was scheduled to die next week for fatally stabbing a 67-year-old man.
The Republican governor announced a reprieve Thursday in the case of death row inmate Raymond Tibbetts.
Gov. John R. Kasich has issued a temporary reprieve on the execution of Raymond Tibbetts. The execution of Tibbetts had been scheduled to take place on February 13 and has been moved to October 17. Kasich issued the reprieve in light of a letter he received on January 30 from a juror on Tibbetts’ case. Because the Ohio Parole Board issued its report and recommendation without considering the letter, Kasich has asked the Board to convene a hearing for the purpose of considering the letter and the issue it raises. –Statement from Gov.
John Kasich’s office
Kasich is sending Tibbetts’ plea for clemency back to the Ohio Parole Board, which voted 11-1 last year to recommend against clemency for Tibbetts.
The governor wants the board to consider a letter from a juror who recommended Tibbetts be sentenced to death, but now believes he should be spared.
The juror wrote Kasich last month saying jurors weren’t told enough about Tibbetts’ horrific childhood.
Tibbetts’ attorney — federal public defender Erin Barnhart — says Kasich acted in the interest of fairness and justice.
The 60-year-old Tibbetts was sentenced to death Tibbetts was convicted for the 1997 murders of his wife, Judith Crawford, and the couple’s landlord, Fred Hicks.