Trucker who went on killing spree awaits execution

[July 14, 2009]  LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A man who confessed to slayings in four states spent his final hours watching television and meeting with a priest as he awaited execution Tuesday for murdering an Ohio man who gave him a ride.

John Fautenberry is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 10 a.m. at the state prison in Lucasville. Fautenberry, a former Oregon truck driver, was sentenced to death for murdering a Cincinnati-area man who gave him a ride in February 1991.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Fautenberry's request to delay his execution Monday. Attorney Dennis Sipe then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution. He said Tuesday morning he was waiting to hear from the high court.

On Monday afternoon, Fautenberry was subdued as he watched television and listened to the radio, prisons spokeswoman Andrea Carson said. He ate eggs, toast and some of the fried potatoes he requested for his meal, she said.

"He hasn't really been engaged in a lot of conversation," Carson said. "But he has been compliant."

Fautenberry was offered several opportunities to phone his sister Monday evening but refused, Carson said. He fell asleep around 11:30 p.m. and slept until he was awakened by prison staff at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

No family members or friends planned to visit Fautenberry before his execution, Carson said. His only visitors were his attorney and a Catholic priest with whom he spent several hours.

Fautenberry, 45, was sentenced to die for the murder of Joseph Daron Jr., 46, of Milford. He gave up his right to a trial by jury in Cincinnati and pleaded no contest on July 23, 1992, to two counts each of aggravated murder and grand theft and one count of aggravated robbery.

Fautenberry confessed to killing a total of five people in four states -- Alaska, Oregon, Ohio and New Jersey -- during a five-month period in late 1990 and early 1991.

Sipe has argued that the state should pay a neuropsychologist to examine Fautenberry, whose last mental exam was 13 years ago. Sipe contends that Fautenberry should not be executed because he has brain damage from a childhood accident and from an injury while serving in the U.S. Navy.

"We make the argument that with a stale psychological survey done in 1996, we thought we needed an updated report to give the clemency process," Sipe said before Monday's ruling. "The Supreme Court said a defendant facing the death penalty was entitled to an attorney; that generally is taken to mean that you should be entitled to one that can effectively defend you, and that includes access to experts where needed."

The Ohio Board of Parole had voted unanimously to recommend that Gov. Ted Strickland deny clemency, which the governor did last week.

"I need an expert to explain to the governor why John Fautenberry should not be executed, because he has an organic brain injury," Sipes said. "The governor's office indicated it would accept things even after the decision."

The Cincinnati-based appeals court refused Friday to overturn a U.S. district court's ruling denying a state-paid expert. Sipe immediately asked the district court to reconsider, and Judge James Graham in Columbus, Ohio, again rejected the argument on Saturday. The appeals court affirmed the district court's decision Monday.

Fautenberry was transferred from the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, where state officials were preparing for his execution.

His special meal request for Monday evening was two eggs sunny-side up, fried potatoes, two pieces of fried bologna, four pieces of wheat bread, two pieces of wheat toast with butter, four slices of tomato, a side of lettuce and mayonnaise, two Three Musketeers candy bars and two packages of Reese's peanut butter cups.

[Associated Press; By MEGHAN BARR]

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