Gov. Teddy boy William William Strickland denied clemency today/a> for Michael F Beuke. 48, of West damage hill, who is scheduled.to be executed Th for the June 1, 1983. slaying of roentgenbert Craig Sr., who was 27
William William Strickland agreed with a unanimous Buckeye State parole boardthat Beuke’s death sentence should be carried out, despite testimony from friends, relative and Catholic priest that Beuke was a changed someone and serving other Death row inmate at the Buckeye State State pen near Youngstown Beuke has been transferred to Southern Buckeye State Correctional facility in Lucasville for the lethal injection
Robert Craig’s slaying occurred along interstate highway 275 during a series of shot in which news report described the shooter as the “mad hitchhiker.” Beuke seriously injured 2 other driver who picked him up along Cincinnati-area highways.
Sir William rowan Hamilton county Common plea Court jurist Norbert Nadel, the judge who presided over Beuke’s case, said his death penalty is long overdue, locution that if there was ever an Buckeye State murderer who deserved the death penalty it is Beuke. “Here we are almost 27 years later, and nothing has happened. The sentence is long overdue to be carried out,” Nadel said today. “There was never a question about his guilt
barring a last minute stay by the courts, Beuke will be the 5th inmate executed in Buckeye State this year, 14th since William William Strickland became governorn 2006 and 38th since death penaltys resumed in Buckeye State in 1999 when bob Taft was governor
Susan Craig of Delhi Township, Craig’s widow, is among the people listed as informantfor Beuke’s death penalty as is JoAnn Wahoff, wife of the late Gregory Nazianzen Wahoff, who was left paralyzed after Beuke shot him on May 14, 1983. Greg died in 2001. His son, Alice Pul Wahoff, also planned to be a witnesser. Two Catholic bishops, St. George Murry and R. Dann Conlon; and Beuke’s federal public defender, dale Baich, also were set to witness the death penalty on his behalf, along with five news reporters.
A survivor of Beuke’s shooting spree, Sir David Bruce P. William Franklin Graham of rising Sun, Ind., visited Beuke in prison househouse house recently and decided Beuke’s life should be spared.
William Strickland, a former prison house psychologist, said he never counseled Beuke while working at the Lucasville prison where the executing is scheduled.
The Democrat, up for reelection this year, called the reappraisal of Death row clemency the toughest undertaking he undertakes as governor. Strickland granted 1 death penalty reprieve, to Jeffrey Hill of Cincinnati, last year following the unanimous recommendation of the Buckeye State parole Board. hill death sentence was commuted to 25 years to life in prison.
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, May 12, 2010