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| Ohio Man's Death Sentence Upheld |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/03/2001 |
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A federal magistrate said on Thursday that John Byrd Jr. had failed to prove his innocence in the 1983 slaying of a Cincinnati convenience store clerk and recommended against overturning his death sentence. U.S. Magistrate Michael Merz made his recommendation to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which postponed Byrd's execution in September so the inmate's claims of innocence could be investigated. Byrd had said he wanted to be electrocuted to illustrate the brutality of capital punishment. A new state law banned electrocution and made lethal injection the only execution method available in Ohio. During a hearing before the magistrate, John Brewer testified that he - not Byrd - stabbed Monte Tewksbury, a 40-year-old Procter & Gamble employee who was moonlighting as a clerk to pay for his daughter's education. Brewer, who was with Byrd during the slaying, was convicted of murder and cannot be tried again. Prosecutors said Brewer was only trying to spare his friend's life. Merz apparently agreed, saying 'Brewer's word is not to be believed.' |
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