A parole board denied Alton Coleman’s plea for life in a recommendation letter sent to Gov. Bob Taft’s office April 19.
After looking at the recommendation, Taft will make the final decision about whether Coleman should live or die. Coleman is scheduled to be executed Friday.
Although Taft has not reviewed the recommendation letter yet, he will release his decision on Coleman’s plea in the next few days, said Joe Andrews, a spokesman in the governor’s office.
“He’ll have a message sent to Coleman first,” Andrews said.
During the hearing, the defendant’s attorneys argued that Coleman suffered from brain damage and was abused as a child.
Dale Baich, Coleman’s attorney, said Coleman’s tragic circumstances should be taken into account when deciding whether Coleman should be sentenced to death.
Dr. Thomas Thompson, a witness for the defense, presented the results of Coleman’s quantitative electroencephalographic evaluation.
The QEEG showed there were a number of pathognomonic signs, which indicated abnormal brain function, Thompson said. The abnormal brain functions include Coleman’s inability to organize and structure his behavior.
The lawyers said prison is the only type of environment in which Coleman can survive.
The parole board unanimously disagreed with the claim.
“At the conclusion of our deliberation, the board members were of the opinion that while it is obvious that Coleman had a troubled childhood, with a possibility of brain damage, the aggravating factors far out- weigh the mitigating factors,” the Adult Parole Authority wrote in the minutes of their meeting. “Therefore, the Board Members, in their judgment, felt that clemency would not further the interests of justice in this case of Alton Coleman.”
The parole board focused on many facts, including Coleman’s involvement in rapes and murders, the damage the victims suffered and still suffer and the alleged damage done to Coleman’s brain because of his abusive environment and drugs.
According to the report, the Ohio Parole Board received 38 individual letters and petitions with 115 signatures asking for Coleman’s clemency request to be denied.
Coleman is facing the death sentence for the murder of Marlene Walters.
Coleman and his co-defendant, Debra Brown, tricked both Harry and Marlene Walters of Northwood, Ohio, into believing that they were interested in the Walters’ camper. Once inside the residence, they ransacked the house and attempted to kill the couple.
Marlene Walters was found dead on the scene. Harry Walters was semi-conscious and survived the incident. He is now disabled because of the event.
The Walters are only two victims of the tri-state crime spree Walters went on in 1984. Walters is also charged with six other murders in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.
