By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Gov. John Kasich has commuted the death sentence of a man facing lethal injection this month for the murder of a Youngstown shopkeeper more than 25 years ago.
Kasich cited John J. Eley’s “limited mental capacity” and calls for clemency from Atty. Gary L. Van Brocklin, a former Mahoning County prosecutor, among the reasons for reducing the death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“The murder of Ihsan Aydah was a heinous act that warrants severe punishment,” Kasich said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. “In participating in the murder, John Jeffrey Eley, who has limited mental capacity, acted under the direction of another man who later was acquitted. Without those factors, it is doubtful that Eley would have committed this crime. Additionally, the former Mahoning County prosecutor who tried Eley’s case now regrets the way the case was handled and its outcome, and has called for clemency. The combined weight of these facts leads me to commute Eley’s sentence to life in prison without parole.”
Kasich added, “Murder, under any circumstance, is an atrocious act, and this decision in no way diminishes that or the actions of Eley. I pray that the family and friends of Ihsan Aydah can find peace.”
Vicki Werneke, federal public defender who argued for clemency on Eley’s behalf but without cooperation from the death row inmate, welcomed the news Tuesday.
“We are very, very, very thrilled and pleased and so grateful that the governor saw fit to spare Mr. Eley’s life,” she said.
Eley, 63, was set to be executed July 26 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville after being convicted for the 1986 shooting death of Aydah during a robbery of the Sinjil Market on West Federal Street.
Eley told parole board members he was innocent of the crime, that police fabricated his confession and that he should be released from prison.
Legal counsel who appeared before the parole board on his behalf argued that Eley is intellectually disabled and was manipulated by another man who instigated the robbery and provided the gun used in the crime.
And Van Brocklin, who sought the death penalty in the case, now says he doesn’t think the punishment fits Eley’s crime.
But prosecutors called Eley a career criminal with a lengthy record of his own who continues to deny responsibility for the crime, despite an earlier confession.
Kasich’s decision came after the state parole board, in a split decision, recommended against clemency for Eley last month.
JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Corrections, said Eley was informed of the decision early Tuesday afternoon.
He will be transferred from death row to another section of the Chillicothe Correctional Institution and eventually could be moved to another state prison.
Comments
Will the Gov. be responsible if this nut kills someone else?
Another example how this Governor has FAILED OHIOANS !!
Failed Ohioans! You've got to be kidding me. Have you seen the jobs report for Ohio? You see Kasich understands it's about working with business and keeping them and bringing them to this state. It's about jobs, not handouts and gimmes and goodies and entitlements. Jobs. Jobs don't fall out of the sky. You don't strangle to death with regualtions and union backlash the only place you can get jobs. He's a business governor, not a handout governor. People can build a future, buy a home, raise a family because they have a decent secure job. That's what Kasich is building for this state, jobs. But so many of you want to strangle the hand that feeds you, the places that can offer you a job. It's a competitve country. Business can easily go elsewhere. Then what will you have? Kasich gets that. I back him on this because I am certain he thought this through and had good reasons to do this. The man is getting jobs for Ohioans. So many of you want handouts and want to drive out business. Then where do you get jobs. Hey, maybe you really don't want a job.