Kasich denies clemency, shifts execution dates

Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Friday denied clemency to a Cuyahoga County man scheduled to be executed later this month.

Gary Otte is slated to die in the Ohio death chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville on Sept. 13. He was convicted of the 1992 robbery and murder of Robert Wasikowski, 61, and Sharon Kostura, 45, at their apartments in Parma.

Otte’s attorneys asked for clemency, citing the fact that he was younger than 21 at the time he committed the murders, Cleveland.com reported. The Ohio Parole Board in February rejected the request 11-0.

Otte’s execution would be Ohio’s second in three years. Ronald Phillips was executed July 26 after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state’s lethal-injection protocol.

Also on Friday, Kasich announced that the execution of Raymond Tibbetts will be moved from Oct. 18 to Feb. 13, 2018. He was convicted in Hamilton County of the 1997 murders of his wife and their landlord.

The execution of William Montgomery has been moved from Jan. 3, 2018, to April 11, 2018. He was convicted in Lucas County of the 1986 murders of Debra Ogle and Cynthia Tincher.

Robert Van Hook, who was convicted in Hamilton County of the 1985 murder of David Self, will be executed on July 18, 2018, instead of Feb. 13, 2018, as originally scheduled.

The Nov. 15 2017, execution date for Alva Campbell Jr. is unchanged. He was convicted in Franklin County of the 1997 murder of Charles Dials, whom he had taken hostage after assaulting a deputy sheriff and stealing her pistol.

Also unchanged is the Sept. 13, 2018, execution date for Cleveland Jackson. He was convicted in Allen County of the 2002 murder of Lenishia Williams, 17, during a robbery.