A 59-year-old Cincinnati man is facing execution in April for stabbing the man who allowed Raymond Tibbetts and his wife to share his home. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports that the Ohio Parole Board heard hours of testimony on whether Tibbetts deserves mercy or should die.
In 1997, Raymond Tibbetts fatally stabbed 67-year-old Fred Hicks, described as sick, defenseless and hearing impaired. Tibbetts was also sentenced to life in prison for stabbing Hicks' caretaker, Judith Sue Crawford. But Tibbetts’ attorney Erin Barnhart said his abusive upbringing and drug addiction set him up to fail.
“The fact that he did fail doesn’t make him evil. He wasn’t born evil. And he’s not deserving of the worst punishment for that reason.”
But Hamilton County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Ronald Springman said Tibbetts’ brutal crimes speak for themselves.
“We don’t know what it was that caused him to do this. It could be pure evil. We don’t know. It very well could be pure evil.”
The Parole Board will issue a recommendation on clemency to the governor on March 10.
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