COLUMBUS: A condemned inmate asked the Ohio Parole Board for mercy a third time Wednesday ahead of his scheduled execution next month for stabbing an Akron woman more than 100 times, then cutting off her hands.
Brett Hartmann came within about a week of execution in 2009 before federal courts allowed him to pursue an innocence claim. When that claim failed, Hartmann had a new date set last year, but that was postponed because of a federal lawsuit over Ohio’s execution policy.
The parole board twice has denied Hartmann’s requests for clemency unanimously, citing the brutality of the Sept. 9, 1997, slaying of 46-year-old Winda Snipes and the “overwhelming evidence” of Hartmann’s guilt.
Details of Snipes’ death were submitted to the parole board by Summit County prosecutors.
Hartmann admitted having sex with Snipes sometime after midnight that day, going back to her apartment the following evening and finding her body. He also called 911.