23 July 2012 :

Gov. John Kasich today commuted Joseph Murphy’s death sentence to life without the possibility of parole. Murphy, 46, white, was to have been executed on Oct. 18 for the Feb. 1, 1987 murder of Ruth Predmore, 72. The governor concurred with an 8-0 parole-board recommendation that Murphy should not be executed, largely because of his abused, neglected childhood and his borderline mentally retardation. Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Herbert Brown and Peg Kavanaugh Predmore, 67, the victim’s niece, who met with Murphy in July, were among the witnesses who urged the board to grant clemency during a seven-hour hearing held last week. Also Predmore’s daughter, Helen Napper, in 1987 signed an affidavit opposing the death sentence for Murphy.