Richey friend spared execution

Published on Thursday 10 January 2008 20:48

A CONVICTED murderer who became one of Kenny Richey's best friends on Death Row has been saved from execution.

Only days after the Scot's 21-year incarceration at a United States prison came to an end, John Spirko has had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Spirko has spent 23 years on Death Row – and had a record seven reprieves – since he was convicted of killing Betty Jane Mottinger, 48, who was abducted from the post office she ran and repeatedly stabbed, then wrapped in a tarpaulin and dumped in a field.

Campaigners, including the UK charity Reprieve, say there are serious doubts over his conviction, and Richey – who spent years in a neighbouring cell at Mansfield Correctional Institute in Ohio – has pledged to fight for his release.

Spirko faced execution this month but yesterday had his sentence commuted by the state governor, Ted Strickland.

He based his decision on the lack of physical evidence linking Spirko to the murder and "the slim residual doubt" about his responsibility for it.

Mr Strickland supports the death penalty but has said he is conscious of the numerous examples of exoneration through DNA testing around the US.

The attorney general's office said last week it had concluded that no DNA evidence linked Spirko to the killing.

Last night, Glasgow mother-of-four Karen Torley, who has campaigned for both Spirko and 43-year-old Richey's release, said she was "pleased" he would not be executed.

She added: "But he's now going to spend the rest of his life in prison, despite the governor saying there remains a doubt that he did it. That's not justice."