Post by pebbles on Feb 26, 2009 2:15:17 GMT -5
Parole board to hear both sides as Akron man faces execution
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 11:18 p.m. EST, Feb 25, 2009
It remains one of Akron's most gruesome murders.
Some may not recall the names of who died, or who did it, but just mention the hands and visions drift back to 1997.
Winda Snipes, an attractive Southerner new to Akron, was found in her Highland Square apartment, stabbed more than 130 times, her hands severed and never found.
A 10-minute walk away lived Brett Hartmann, an aspiring chef with a drinking problem, but never a hint of a vicious killer.
At 23, he was half the age of Snipes, his part-time lover. It was Hartmann who found Snipes' body, claimed he panicked and tried to clean up evidence of his previous visit. His actions put him on Ohio's death row.
Today, Hartmann's supporters will seek mercy as they stand before the Ohio Parole Board seeking a sentence lesser than death. He is scheduled to die by injection on April 7.
''The bottom line is we know he didn't do this,'' said his sister, Diane Morretti.
The state of Ohio and Snipes' family and friends will argue that the death sentence be carried out. Unless a court intervenes, Hartmann's life lies in the hands of Gov. Ted Strickland, who will receive the board's recommendation and make his own finding.
The families of Hartmann and Snipes are predictably divided on the execution.
''I'm sorry I have to feel this way,'' Ella Oxford Snipes, the victim's mother said by phone from her South Carolina home. ''But he did a really, really, really bad thing. And I want him gone.''
Winda Snipes, 46, had moved from South Carolina to Akron at the invitation of a female friend. She lived alone in a South Highland Avenue apartment, worked as a telemarketer and wrote her family nearly every day.
She and Hartmann, now 34, were said to have a romantic, but not a steady relationship. Hartmann admitted having sex with Snipes the day she was killed, but said he left her alive only to return about 12 hours later to find her dead.
He anonymously called 911 to report the death and watched as police rolled in. In Hartmann's bedroom, police found a bloody T-shirt and Snipes' jewelry.
''He's always said he didn't do it,'' Oxford Snipes said. ''But I sat at that trial, and I know he did it. When this is over, I will feel better because of what he did to my daughter.''
Morretti, his sister from Mesa, Ariz., said the Hartmanns sympathize with Winda Snipes' family. However, she reiterated her brother's innocence, saying his previous attorneys have failed him by missing court deadlines and making poor decisions.
She pointed to phone records showing her brother was home around the time of the killing. She also said Akron police failed to investigate other suspects, most notably Snipes' former boyfriend, who neighbors said threatened to slit her throat a short time before the killing.
''They haven't given Brett justice and they haven't done justice to Winda's family, either,'' she said. ''It's just heartbreaking all the way around.''
Snipes' family is not expected to attend the hearing, although they have written letters urging the state to follow through with the execution.
A friend, Jacqueline Brown, will appear, as will Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and lawyers with the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
Fight for clemency
Hartmann's attorneys, along with his mother, Carol Parcell, and his aunt Arletta Hartmann, are expected to speak at the hearing. Others, including his sister and a Catholic nun, have forwarded videotaped pleas for clemency.
A Web site has been set up on Hartmann's behalf, asking visitors to sign a petition that will be given to Strickland. In December, supporters sent Christmas cards drawn by Hartmann imploring Strickland to show mercy.
Attorney Michael Benza said their clemency argument will focus on Hartmann's claims of innocence, his acclimation to prison and the lack of new DNA testing on crime scene evidence, including hair samples, fingerprints and a condom.
''There are questions out there, and if we have the death penalty, we should answer those questions before we execute someone,'' he said.
The state is expected to argue that Hartmann's guilt has been upheld in all courts and that the jury's recommendation of death should be sustained.
Walsh, who will address the board, said Hartmann ''is not deserving of clemency because he is a cold-blooded killer.''
Strickland has allowed four executions and has granted clemency just once. A second death row inmate was granted a commuted sentence by the governor.
Since Ohio resumed executions in 1999, 28 inmates have been put to death.
www.ohio.com/news/40329857.html
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 11:18 p.m. EST, Feb 25, 2009
It remains one of Akron's most gruesome murders.
Some may not recall the names of who died, or who did it, but just mention the hands and visions drift back to 1997.
Winda Snipes, an attractive Southerner new to Akron, was found in her Highland Square apartment, stabbed more than 130 times, her hands severed and never found.
A 10-minute walk away lived Brett Hartmann, an aspiring chef with a drinking problem, but never a hint of a vicious killer.
At 23, he was half the age of Snipes, his part-time lover. It was Hartmann who found Snipes' body, claimed he panicked and tried to clean up evidence of his previous visit. His actions put him on Ohio's death row.
Today, Hartmann's supporters will seek mercy as they stand before the Ohio Parole Board seeking a sentence lesser than death. He is scheduled to die by injection on April 7.
''The bottom line is we know he didn't do this,'' said his sister, Diane Morretti.
The state of Ohio and Snipes' family and friends will argue that the death sentence be carried out. Unless a court intervenes, Hartmann's life lies in the hands of Gov. Ted Strickland, who will receive the board's recommendation and make his own finding.
The families of Hartmann and Snipes are predictably divided on the execution.
''I'm sorry I have to feel this way,'' Ella Oxford Snipes, the victim's mother said by phone from her South Carolina home. ''But he did a really, really, really bad thing. And I want him gone.''
Winda Snipes, 46, had moved from South Carolina to Akron at the invitation of a female friend. She lived alone in a South Highland Avenue apartment, worked as a telemarketer and wrote her family nearly every day.
She and Hartmann, now 34, were said to have a romantic, but not a steady relationship. Hartmann admitted having sex with Snipes the day she was killed, but said he left her alive only to return about 12 hours later to find her dead.
He anonymously called 911 to report the death and watched as police rolled in. In Hartmann's bedroom, police found a bloody T-shirt and Snipes' jewelry.
''He's always said he didn't do it,'' Oxford Snipes said. ''But I sat at that trial, and I know he did it. When this is over, I will feel better because of what he did to my daughter.''
Morretti, his sister from Mesa, Ariz., said the Hartmanns sympathize with Winda Snipes' family. However, she reiterated her brother's innocence, saying his previous attorneys have failed him by missing court deadlines and making poor decisions.
She pointed to phone records showing her brother was home around the time of the killing. She also said Akron police failed to investigate other suspects, most notably Snipes' former boyfriend, who neighbors said threatened to slit her throat a short time before the killing.
''They haven't given Brett justice and they haven't done justice to Winda's family, either,'' she said. ''It's just heartbreaking all the way around.''
Snipes' family is not expected to attend the hearing, although they have written letters urging the state to follow through with the execution.
A friend, Jacqueline Brown, will appear, as will Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and lawyers with the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
Fight for clemency
Hartmann's attorneys, along with his mother, Carol Parcell, and his aunt Arletta Hartmann, are expected to speak at the hearing. Others, including his sister and a Catholic nun, have forwarded videotaped pleas for clemency.
A Web site has been set up on Hartmann's behalf, asking visitors to sign a petition that will be given to Strickland. In December, supporters sent Christmas cards drawn by Hartmann imploring Strickland to show mercy.
Attorney Michael Benza said their clemency argument will focus on Hartmann's claims of innocence, his acclimation to prison and the lack of new DNA testing on crime scene evidence, including hair samples, fingerprints and a condom.
''There are questions out there, and if we have the death penalty, we should answer those questions before we execute someone,'' he said.
The state is expected to argue that Hartmann's guilt has been upheld in all courts and that the jury's recommendation of death should be sustained.
Walsh, who will address the board, said Hartmann ''is not deserving of clemency because he is a cold-blooded killer.''
Strickland has allowed four executions and has granted clemency just once. A second death row inmate was granted a commuted sentence by the governor.
Since Ohio resumed executions in 1999, 28 inmates have been put to death.
www.ohio.com/news/40329857.html