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| Inmate executed for murdering Ohio woman |
| By Toledo Blade |
| Published: 03/09/2005 |
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As the warden held a microphone over the lethal injection table, condemned inmate William H. Smith was asked if he had a final statement. Smith, 47, took a deep breath and spoke for about four minutes. Convicted for the 1987 rape and murder of Mary Bradford, a grandmother of six who lived in Cincinnati, Smith spoke calmly as he apologized, asked forgiveness, and said he was giving his life to Jesus Christ. Minutes later, the state executed Smith by injection at the state maximum-security prison in Lucasville. The time of death was 10:19 a.m. A day earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Smith's appeal. A federal appeals court in Cincinnati ruled Sunday that tests on Smith did not prove he had brain damage. "On this day when the state carries out such a solemn duty, we should remember Mary Bradford, the innocent victim in this tragic case," Attorney General Jim Petro said. Smith met Ms. Bradford at a bar in Cincinnati on the night of Sept. 26, 1987. After hours of socializing and drinking alcohol, they went to her apartment, according to court records. After accusing Ms. Bradford of stealing cocaine from him, Smith stabbed her 10 times and raped her as she lay bleeding to death, court records say. He then stole two televisions and a stereo from her apartment. Smith told the parole board last month that in 1994, he acknowledged his sole responsibility for the rape, murder, and robbery. Smith became the first Ohio inmate executed this year and the 16th since the state resumed carrying out the death penalty in 1999. Ohio executed seven inmates last year. |
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