Gov. John Kasich will not stop the execution of Dennis McGuir,e but gives no reason in the three-sentence statement issued by his office, which notes that the parole board recommended unanimously against clemency.
McGuire was sentenced to die for raping and murdering Joy Stewart after meeting her at a friend’s house in Preble County in western Ohio in 1994. Stewart was eight months pregnant.
McGuire’s attorneys argued he had an abusive childhood, but prosecutors say the brutality of the crime warrants the death penalty.
If his execution continues as planned on January 16, McGuire will be the first person ever to die with a mix of two drugs that have never been used together in an execution anywhere. The state will use this lethal injection approach, which has been its backup method, after running out of the single drug it had been using.
