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The Columbus Dispatch
Attorney General Seeks Delay In Execution of Spirko
By Alan Johnson The Nov. 15 execution of John G. Spirko Jr. will be delayed at Attorney General Jim Petro's request to permit time for DNA testing. Petro this afternoon was to ask Gov. Bob Taft to postpone the execution while tests are performed on a tarp or shroud used to wrap the body of Betty Jane Mottinger. Mottinger, the postmistress in tiny Elgin, Ohio, was abducted and murdered on Aug. 9, 1982. Spirko was convicted and sentenced to death for Mottinger's murder, but has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence in the intervening 23-year legal battle. A letter from Petro to Thomas Hill, Spirko's attorney, confirmed the testing is underway at the Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation in London, Ohio. "Therefore, I am going to request a 60-day reprieve from the governor to accommodate these requests," Petro said. However, Petro added that he believes DNA test results will be "dispositive of either guilt or innocence" in the case. Spirko's attorney recently urged the attorney general and Van Wert County Prosecutor Charles Kennedy to permit DNA testing of the tarp, duct tape, Mottinger's blouse and other materials found with the body in a farm field six weeks after Mottinger's disappearance. They argue it may well point to another potential suspect in the case, a housepainter named Dale Dingus. Taft previously delayed Spirko's execution, originally scheduled for Sept. 15, by two months to allow for a second clemency hearing. Taft is now considering Spirko's clemency request; the Ohio Parole Board has twice recommended against sparing his life, both times by a 6-3 vote. Copyright © 2005, The Columbus Dispatch
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