After 18 years of appeals by his counsel, Robert Buell, a former Akron city planner, was put to death yesterday morning for the 1982 murder of an 11-year-old Wayne County girl.
According to Michael Benza, Buell’s defense attorney, his defense team has been “furiously trying” to get the state and court to re-examine the validity of the evidence. Despite their attempts, state and federal courts turned down last minute appeals.
Until his last breath, Buell, 62, maintained his innocence.
“The killer is still out there,” he said in a final statement directed to the parents of the victim, Krista Harrison. “I didn’t kill your daughter. The prosecutor knows that … and they left the real killer out there on the streets to kill again and again and again.”
After waking at 3:30 a.m. yesterday, Buell showered, shaved, listened to classical music in his cell and ate a breakfast of bran flakes with milk, said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. Granted a special last meal, Buell only requested a single, black, unpitted olive on Tuesday evening.
Immediately prior to his death, Buell met only with his pastor and his lawyer .
Buell was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m.
There were no witnesses to his execution, except the victim’s father and two brothers.
However, death penalty opponents, including Ohioans To Stop Executions, held vigils outside the prison yesterday morning and at Gov. Bob Taft’s mansion. These organizations also held a rally at the governor’s home Saturday afternoon.
Regarding the opposition to the death penalty, Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery issued a public statement.
“There are many good and thoughtful people on both sides of the death penalty debate. More than 20 years ago, Ohio’s policy makers determined that the death penalty was the appropriate punishment for the very few crimes and criminals that rank among its most vicious and heinous. This was one of those crimes.”
“My thoughts and prayers go out today to Gerald and Shirley Harrison, (and) are also with the Buell family,” said Montgomery in her statement.
Buell was the fifth Ohio inmate to receive capital punishment in three years.
