A Murder in Amish Ohio by David Meyers

Author:David Meyers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

THE THREE-JUDGE PANEL

You never know with juries. I’d take a judge every time, unless of course I was guilty.

—Kenneth Eade236

Ever since its introduction in 1897 as a more humane replacement for the gallows, “Old Sparky”—the Ohio Penitentiary’s electric chair—had been exceedingly busy. Its first victim was William Haas, a seventeen-year-old youth from Hamilton County. Convicted of the brutal murder of Mrs. William Brady, he lost a coin toss to William Wiley. Consequently, he was sent to the chair on April 21, just after midnight. No sooner was Haas’s lifeless body removed from the chair than Wiley replaced him, becoming the second victim. Also from Hamilton County, Wiley had been found guilty of killing his wife. Other executions would follow on the average of five a year.

Gene Peters was convicted of first-degree murder—unanimously and without mercy. Unless a miracle happened, he would become the 303rd person to die in the electric chair, including three women. Meanwhile, Mike Dumoulin’s attorneys wanted to make certain that he wasn’t the 304th.

In preparation for Mike’s trial, Isha M. Manley, longtime Holmes County clerk of courts, drew the names of eighty-seven prospective jurors—but they wouldn’t be needed. This time, there would be no jury selection because there would be no jury. Forget about trying to establish their client’s innocence. Mike’s attorneys needed to come up with a persuasive argument for why he didn’t deserve the death penalty too. That might take some real lawyering.

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