Published September 18, 2017
The Latest on last-minute appeals by a condemned Ohio killer scheduled to die Wednesday (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
An Ohio court has heard an appeal by a condemned killer that he shouldn't be put to death because of his age at the time of his crime.
Death row prisoner Gary Otte (OH'-tee) was sentenced to die for the Feb. 12, 1992, killing of Robert Wasikowski (wah-sih-KOW'-skee) and the Feb. 13, 1992, killing of Sharon Kostura. Both slayings took place in Parma, in suburban Cleveland.
Attorneys for Otte asked a Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County appeals court Monday to allow him to challenge the death penalty as unconstitutional in his case. His education is scheduled for Wednesday.
The attorneys argue he shouldn't be executed because he was younger than 21 at the time of the crime.
A federal judge on Friday rejected Otte's challenge of the constitutionality of Ohio's three-drug execution method.
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12:25 a.m.
Ohio is preparing to put a condemned killer of two people to death this week as the inmate awaits word on last-minute appeals.
Death row prisoner Gary Otte (OH'-tee) was sentenced to die for the Feb. 12, 1992, killing of Robert Wasikowski (wah-sih-KOW'-skee) and the Feb. 13, 1992, killing of Sharon Kostura. Both slayings took place in Parma in suburban Cleveland.
The state plans to execute the 45-year-old Otte on Wednesday with a lethal combination of three drugs.
A federal court is considering Otte's argument that the first drug in the process creates an unconstitutional risk of severe harm.
Ohio put the killer of a 3-year-old girl to death in July, the first execution in more than three years after a delay caused by a drug shortage.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/the-latest-ohio-court-weighs-condemned-killers-appeal