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Former Ohio Prisons Director And Death Penalty Opponent Dies

Former Ohio prisons director Terry Collins. (Photo: Ohio DRC)

A former head of the Ohio prisons department who became an advocate against the death penalty has died.  Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports.

63-year-old Terry Collins worked for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction for more than 30 years, and was its director under Gov. Ted Strickland.

As warden at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Collins had witnessed several executions. But after retiring in early 2010, Collins had spoken out for an end to capital punishment in Ohio, as he did in an interview in October.

“As I reviewed the death penalty and the 32 execution that I witnessed, every time I wondered, ‘did the system get it right?’ I have concerns about fairness of the system.”

Collins died of an apparent heart attack near his home in Chillicothe.