Lawrence Reynolds

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Lawrence Reynolds
ohiodeathrow.blogspot.com/2009/05/lawrence-reynolds.html

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Ohio Supreme Court sets execution date for Akron killer, two others

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday set three additional execution dates for inmates on death row, meaning the state could set a record of eight executions this year.

Executions are now scheduled for each of the remaining months of the year -- including two in July -- along with January and February of 2010, for a total of nine pending executions.

The nine inmates have exhausted all their regular state and federal appeals and have few remaining options, one of which includes asking Gov. Ted Strickland for clemency.

Ohio executed Daniel Wilson June 3 for burning a woman alive in the trunk of her car.

The state executed seven men in 2004, second only to Texas which regularly puts 20 or more inmates to death each year.

On Wednesday, the court set an Oct. 8 execution date for Lawrence Reynolds, 43, of Summit County. He was sentenced to die for killing his 67-year-old neighbor, Loretta Foster, in 1994 in her Akron home after trying to rape her.

The court also set a Jan. 7 execution date for Vernon Smith, 37, of Lucas County, sentenced to die for killing 28-year-old Toledo store owner Sohail Darwish in 1993.

The court also set a Feb. 4 execution date for Mark Brown, 36, of Mahoning County, sentenced to die for killing 32-year-old Isam Salman, a Youngstown store clerk, in 1994.

The Attorney General's office has asked prosecutors to coordinate their requests for execution dates to avoid swamping the state Supreme Court.

The court, which had previously scheduled two executions in eight days next month, said last week it will schedule future executions at least three weeks apart
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/06/ohio_supreme_court_sets_3_exec.html

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Convicted murderer's clemency hearing set

by Steve Wiandt

Reporter

A clemency hearing will take place next month in Columbus for a Cuyahoga Falls man scheduled for execution in October for the 1994 murder of Loretta Foster.

Lawrence R. Reynolds Jr., 43, was convicted in June 1994 for the murder of 82-year-old Loretta Foster, of Cuyahoga Falls, in January of the same year. He was found guilty of aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated burglary, attempted rape and aggravated murder. Sentenced to die on Oct. 8, Reynolds is a prisoner at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.

Reynolds was indicted on Jan. 20, 1994 for aggravated murder after police found Foster's body in her house and conducted a homicide investigation.

The Ohio Parole Board will hear scheduled arguments in support of, or in opposition to clemency in a hearing on Sept. 3 in Columbus, according to Julie Walburn of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Prior to the hearing, Walburn said, the Parole Board will interview Reynolds, likely by video conference.

"At the clemency hearing the offender's attorney or representative, [and] his family can present their side of the case in petitioning the Parole Board for clemency, if they so choose," said Walburn. "Then the state and the county that prosecuted the offender and the victim's family has the ability to make a presentation against clemency."

Walburn said on Aug. 13 she does not know if Reynolds' attorney is intending to present a case arguing in favor of clemency. "We do not know at this point," she said, "He has up until a week prior to the hearing date to make that decision." Walburn said the hearing would take place regardless.

Brad Gessner, chief assistant to Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh, will testify in opposition to clemency, said Laurie Cramer, director of communications for the prosecutor's office.

He and Kristen Arapp, Walsh's director of Victim Services, have been working with Foster's family, Cramer said.

"My office will be requesting that Mr. Reynolds' sentence of death be carried out," Walsh said. "Ms. Foster was loved by many as a family member and friend. Reynolds' brutal attack and murder of Ms. Foster was a heinous crime that deserves the punishment the court ordered: death."

The public may contact the board to express their views for or against clemency, by e-mailing [e-mail] or writing to the board at: Ohio Parole Board, 770 W. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43222.

E-mail: [e-mail]

Phone: [phone] ext. 3141

www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/4647849

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Relatives oppose clemency
Hearing held for man who strangled Falls neighbor. Oct. 8 execution looms

Dona Papp fought unsuccessfully against the tears streaming down her face as she talked about her great-aunt.

Loretta Mae Foster, 67, was brutally murdered 15 years ago by a Cuyahoga Falls neighbor, Lawrence Reynolds Jr., who was high on drugs and alcohol.

Papp told the Ohio Parole Board on Thursday that Reynolds' request for clemency should be denied and he should be executed as scheduled Oct. 8.

''That was 15 years ago. He is still guilty. My aunt is still dead,'' Papp told the parole board, which will issue a report and recommendation next Thursday to Gov. Ted Strickland.

Reynolds spent six years in the U.S. Army before returning to Cuyahoga Falls, where he was living with his parents when he killed Foster on Jan. 11, 1994.

Brad Gessner, assistant Summit County prosecutor, took issue with attorneys for Reynolds who wrote in their clemency request: ''A murder by an alcoholic with no plans to kill, who was looking for money to buy alcohol, is not as heinous as the other crimes in which death was imposed in Summit County.''

Gessner said Reynolds was a cold-blooded, calculating killer who stalked and eventually murdered Foster.

Using a slide projector, Gessner displayed photos of Foster's life. She is shown in various photos with her husband, who preceded her in death; their son, Michael; grandchildren; and dozens of extended family members and
friends.

Then Gessner showed slides from the murder scene.

He told the parole board that although she lived alone without fear for 18 years after her husband died, Foster was frightened by Reynolds in the days before he killed her. She told her son, a friend and a doctor that Reynolds was acting strange after she hired him to paint her basement in December 1993.

On the night of the murder, Reynolds went to her back door carrying a thick, wooden tent post and rope. When she wouldn't let him in, Reynolds conned her by saying he had a letter from his sister, Lori, for Foster, Gessner said.

When she cracked the door open, Reynolds pushed his way in and started to hit her in the face with the tent post. Foster tried to escape by running into her living room to call her son, who had told her to phone if Reynolds came around.

Reynolds hit her again and again until she collapsed on the floor. As he was ransacking her house, Foster attempted to reach the phone.

Gessner said Reynolds then ripped her clothes off, tied her hands behind her back and attempted to rape her before strangling her first with his hands and then with the rope.

Reynolds left with $40 and a blank check from Foster's account. He went drinking with his brother and some friends.

When police arrested Reynolds, they found the tent post, rope and check in his room.

''This is the worst of the worst,'' Gessner said.

Ohio public defenders Kathyrn Sanford and Robert Lowe, representing Reynolds, who was not present, asked the board to recommend clemency and life without parole in prison.

Sanford described Reynolds as a genetic alcoholic with low self-esteem, a loveless upbringing, no history of violence and genuine remorse for his crime.

Reynolds' family members did not attend the hearing.

Dennis Eshbaugh, an Ohio Department of Mental Health psychologist, told the parole board that Reynolds was a biological alcoholic who started drinking when he was 14, and that he was wrongly diagnosed with antisocial behavior during the trial and sentencing.

At one point, Eshbaugh became emotional as he described the lack of unconditional love afforded Reynolds by his mother and father.

Gessner countered that Reynolds had no problems with alcohol before graduating high school on time, and that his family attempted to help him when he returned from the Army.

Testimony from Foster's family choked up the room.

Kelly Redfern read from a letter that talked about her fondest memories of July Fourth picnics with her great-aunt.

''Those were the best of times. She was the type of person you could not get enough of,'' Redfern said. ''I believe I am the daughter, sister, wife and mother I am today because of her.''

Foster's granddaughter, Patty Soloman, told the board her father has never recovered from his mother's murder.

Michael Foster did not attend the hearing.

Soloman said her grandmother baby-sat the Reynolds children, and at times she was jealous because of the attention Foster showed them.

''I understand why [Reynolds' family] are not here today,'' Soloman said, adding that the Reynoldses have placed tributes at her grandmother's gravesite over the years.

She said that although 15 years have passed since her grandmother was murdered, the family has never forgotten her.

''But every good memory has a bad memory after it,'' Soloman said.

www.ohio.com/news/willard/58861627.html

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Man convicted in 1994 murder has clemency hearing

The state parole board will decide in coming days whether to recommend clemency for a Summit County man accused of murdering a Cuyahoga Falls woman more than a decade ago.

The board held a clemency hearing in Columbus Sept. 10 for Lawrence Reynolds Jr., 43, who faces execution in early October for the aggravated murder of Loretta Mae Foster in January 1994.

According to court documents, he beat the 67-year-old neighbor with a tent pole, tied her with a telephone cord and strangled her to death. Reynolds took about $40 in cash and a blank check belonging to the victim; Foster's nude body was later found on the floor of her house.

Reynolds was convicted of murder, kidnapping, burglary and attempted rape and sentenced to death in late 1994. His execution is scheduled for Oct. 8 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville.

Reynolds declined to be interviewed by the parole board prior to the clemency hearing.

The state public defender's office, acting on his behalf and seeking a sentence commutation to life in prison without parole, focused on Reynolds' upbringing and resulting abuse of alcohol.

Reynolds grew up in a family of alcoholics and began drinking at the age of 14, said Kathryn Sandford, public defender representing the inmate. Throughout his childhood and into his adult life, there was a lack of family attention and bonding -- as evidenced by the fact that his parents and siblings declined to take part in the hearing, she said.

Dennis Eshbaugh, a psychologist who interviewed Reynolds, confirmed the inmate's alcoholism and impacts of a dysfunctional home life that resulted in longstanding feelings of being unloved or unlovable. Reynolds lacked any kind of life skills and received no guidance from his parents, he said.

"I think in normal families, there is unconditional love," Eshbaugh said, adding later, "Not so for Mr. Reynolds."

Reynolds has taken responsibility for the crime and is sorry for what he did, Sandford said. He has matured since being sent to prison, works in the prison food service area and, along with another death row inmate, makes origami for children, said Public Defender Robert Lowe.

"Prison gives Larry the discipline and structure without alcohol that he was never taught at home," Lowe said. " ... Larry has been a compliant inmate. ... The only reason to execute him now is retribution."

But Brad Gessner, chief assistant prosecutor for Summit County, said Reynolds was well aware of what he was doing the night of the murder, and the death penalty should be carried out.

"The place you are to be safe is your home," he said. "Your family and friends come there to meet you. Eighteen years by herself, Loretta (Foster) was never afraid until the days before her death. And what was she afraid of? Lawrence Reynolds."

Foster was a generous, nurturing woman who babysat for Reynolds and his brother and sister when they were children, Gessner said. She even hired Reynolds weeks prior to her murder to paint her basement floor.

But afterward, Reynolds began stalking Foster, and she complained to her son, sister-in-law and a doctor hours before her death about her neighbor's strange behavior, Gessner said.

"Lawrence Reynolds conned her to get into her home," he said. "He came to her home with a tent post, rope, camouflage pants and camouflage gloves. ... When she let him in the door... he immediately attacked her. Unfortunately, it didn't end there."

He added, "He went there armed. He went there with the intent to kill her."

After the brutal murder, Reynolds went out drinking with his brother and two friends and bragged about killing Foster, even taking the trio back to the victim's home to see for themselves.

"Lawrence Reynolds knew exactly what he was doing," Gessner said. "He planned to go there... he worked to clean up, he went back to retrieve evidence."

Gessner also countered claims about Reynolds' upbringing and home life, saying that his parents tried to help him find employment and move into a place of his own.

"They didn't have the heart to throw him out," he said, adding, "These are parents who put him in rehab."

A large group from Foster's family attended the hearing, urging the parole board to deny clemency. They talked about having nightmares, about a great niece who still can't sleep without the lights on and about a grandmother who gave up on life after the murder.

"Mr. Reynolds took it upon himself to take her life," said Kelly Redfern, great niece of the victim. "Mr. Reynolds also took it upon himself to go out on the town to brag about his actions. In my eyes, Lawrence Reynolds is a cold and heartless man."

"Being here today, to me, is almost senseless," added Dona Papp, another great niece. "I feel that 15 years ago, Larry went through a trial. He had a jury. They found him guilty of his crime. They sentenced him to die. I don't know what has changed. That was 15 years ago, Larry is still guilty, my aunt is still dead."

The board will issue its decision later this week, in the form of a report to Gov. Ted Strickland, who will make the ultimate decision on whether to allow the execution to go forward or grant clemency.
www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/4665998

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Ohio Parole Board rejects clemency request by man who strangled 67-year-old neighbor

The Ohio Parole Board has rejected clemency for a man sentenced to die next month for strangling his 67-year-old neighbor.

The board voted 6-0 Thursday against mercy for 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds, who killed Loretta Foster in 1994 in her Cuyahoga Falls home.

The board said the aggravating factors surrounding Foster's brutal murder outweighed any arguments against sparing Reynolds.

Reynolds' attorneys argued he was a lifelong alcoholic and that his addiction drove him to kill for money. They also said Reynolds has shown deep remorse in prison.

Prosecutors said Reynolds planned the murder for days and there was no evidence he had been drinking at the time.
www.fox59.com/news/sns-ap-oh--deathpenalty-ohio,0,1351113.story

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Ohio condemned killer wants execution delayed

An Ohio man sentenced to die for strangling his 67-year-old neighbor wants his execution delayed because of last week’s botched attempt to put another inmate to death.

Forty-three-year-old Lawrence Reynolds, scheduled to die Oct. 8, says the state’s unsuccessful attempt to execute Romell Broom shows Ohio’s lethal injection procedures are flawed.

Reynolds says 2006 and 2007 executions that took much longer than expected also show a pattern of problems with Ohio executions.

Attorneys for Reynolds say in a filing with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday that he should be allowed to challenge the constitutionality of Ohio’s execution process.

Gov. Ted Strickland stopped Broom’s execution Sept. 15 after two hours after executioners failed to find a usable vein.

www.vindy.com/news/2009/sep/25/ohio-condemned-killer-wants-execution-delayed/?newswatch

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Inmate from Cuyahoga Falls wins stay of execution

A federal appeals court this morning granted a stay of execution for condemned Cuyahoga Falls inmate Lawrence Reynolds.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited last month's aborted execution attempt of a Cleveland inmate as the reason for delaying Reynolds' execution.

Reynolds was scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday for the 1994 slaying of Loretta Mae Foster, 67, a neighbor in Cuyahoga Falls.

To read more;
www.ohio.com/news/break_news/63523212.html#

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Federal court halts Thursday execution of widow's killer

A federal appeals court decision this morning blocking Thursday's execution of Summit County killer Lawrence Reynolds Jr.raised serious questions about Ohio's lethal injection process.

In a 2-1 ruling, a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said Reynolds' execution should not proceed before a federal court considers problems with the botched execution of Romell Broom on Sept. 15. Broom's hearing is Nov. 30.

The court pointed to "serious and troubling difficulties in executing at least three inmates" that raised questions about whether prison officials are "completely adhering to the Ohio lethal injection protocol."

Attorney General Richard Cordray will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court later today, spokeswoman Holly Hollingsworth said.

To read more;
www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/10/05/aexecute.html?sid=101

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An inmate scheduled to die next month for strangling a 67-year-old woman wants his execution delayed while he challenges Ohio's injection procedures.

Lawrence Reynolds asked U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost today to put his March 9 execution on hold while he files objections to the state's new injection process.

The 43-year-old Reynolds asks Frost to hold a trial on his arguments before March 9 if a delay isn't possible.

Reynolds says the state hasn't worked out problems with accessing inmates' veins that have caused problems in the past.

Reynolds also says a new backup method injecting lethal drugs into muscles is untried and could cause pain.

Prosecutors say Reynolds strangled neighbor Loretta Foster in Cuyahoga Falls near Akron in 1994 for money to fuel his alcohol addiction.


To read more;
www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/02/23/ohio-strangler-seeks-delay-execution.html?sid=101

www.wkyc.com/news/local/news_article.aspx?storyid=131253&catid=3

www.ohio.com/news/ohiocentric/85080102.html

www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohio-news/ohio-inmate-who-strangled-woman-wants-death-delay-564004.html

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Ohio opposes death delay for neighbor strangler

Ohio is opposing a condemned inmate's request to delay his execution for strangling a 67-year-old.

The state asked U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost Wednesday to deny the request, in which Lawrence Reynolds seeks to have his March 9 execution put on hold while he challenges Ohio's lethal injection procedures.

Reynolds says the state hasn't worked out problems with accessing inmates' veins and that a new backup method that injects lethal drugs into muscles is untried and could cause pain.

The state attorney general's office says federal courts have rejected identical arguments by Ohio death row inmates who have since been executed.

Prosecutors say Reynolds strangled neighbor Loretta Foster in Cuyahoga Falls near Akron in 1994 for money to fuel his alcohol addiction.
www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=12037893

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Judge: no death delay for Ohio neighbor strangler

A judge has denied an inmate's request to delay his execution for strangling a neighbor while the inmate challenges Ohio's lethal injection process.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost on Wednesday turned down 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds, who is trying to stop his March 9 execution.

Reynolds says the state hasn't worked out problems with accessing inmates' veins, and that a new backup method that injects lethal drugs into muscles is untried and could cause pain.

Frost says Reynolds' argument is nearly identical to that made by death row inmate Mark Brown earlier this year and rejected by Frost and a Cincinnati federal appeals court.

Brown was executed Feb. 4.

Prosecutors say Reynolds strangled neighbor Loretta Foster in Cuyahoga Falls near Akron in 1994 for money to fuel his alcohol addiction.

To read more;
www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohio-news/judge-no-death-delay-for-ohio-neighbor-strangler-565945.html

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Lawrence Reynolds is scheduled to be executed in 12 days as his attorneys scramble to find a way to stop it.

A ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost denying Reynolds' request for a delay could be seen as a setback, but not a surprise.

"Well, we knew what happened in the Mark Brown case, so we had a good guess as to what was going to happen," said Lowe.

Reynolds and Brown both claimed the state's lethal injection process needs more scrutiny. Brown's motion was also denied, and he was executed earlier this month.

Lowe says Reynolds is not waging any arguments that suggest he's innocent of strangling Loretta Foster, 67, of Cuyahoga Falls in 1994.

LISTEN to Lowe explain why it's important to exhaust legal options

"He still has his clemency request in front of the governor, pending," said Lowe.

Governor Strickland granted a reprieve to Reynolds and others last year as the state took time to consider an alternate method of lethal injection after botching an execution attempt in September.

Lowe says he's considering other legal options to keep his client out of Ohio's death chamber.
To hear audio;
www.akronnewsnow.com/news/itemdetail.asp?ID=37884§ion=news&subsection=localnews

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www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohio-news/court-rejects-execution-delay-for-ohio-strangler-582783.html

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Ohio tries again to execute Lawrence Reynolds for Cuyahoga Falls widow's murder

The state will try again Tuesday to execute a man who strangled his 67-year-old neighbor in her home to get money for his alcohol addiction.

Lawrence Reynolds Jr. had been scheduled to die last October, but Gov. Ted Strickland delayed the execution so the state could review its lethal injection procedure.

Since then, Ohio has switched from a three-drug process, which opponents said could cause severe pain, to a one-drug system. Reynolds lost a bid Friday to have the execution delayed so he can challenge the new system when federal appeals court "regretfully" denied his request. He plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Three inmates have been executed with the new method, and in each case death came in just a few minutes. Washington last week became the second state to adopt the procedure.

Reynolds, 43, was convicted for the 1994 killing of Loretta Foster, a widow who lived three doors down in their Cuyahoga Falls neighborhood.

Foster's family has been on an emotional roller coaster for the past five months while the inmate seeks another delay, this time from the court system, said Gail Hand, Loretta Foster's granddaughter.

Reynolds says the state hasn't worked out problems with accessing inmates' veins, and that a new backup plan that injects lethal drugs into muscles is untried and could cause pain.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati denied the request, with a judge arguing that the court has improperly dealt with challenges to the state's new system, and Reynolds' now plans to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hand, 40, said her family has mixed feelings about the death penalty but wants the sentence upheld. "It's been a long process, and my heart is broken just as much today as it was 16 years ago," she said.

Reynolds' attorneys, at his request, declined comment.

Loretta Foster often baby-sat for children in her neighborhood, including Reynolds' younger siblings.

About a month before her murder, Foster hired Reynolds to paint her basement. Reynolds, an alcoholic who was out of work and had little money, claimed he was promised $300 but only got $100, prosecutors said.

Reynolds went to the widow's house on Jan. 11, 1994, wearing camouflage clothing and carrying a wooden tent pole, which he used to beat Foster when she reached for a phone and tried to call for help, prosecutors said. Then he strangled her and removed her clothes.

At a bar later that night, Reynolds told a group of friends what happened. The friends went to the police.

At the trial, Reynolds' defense team didn't deny that Reynolds was responsible for the murder but attempted to show that he was drunk and had not gone to Foster's house intending to kill her.

He was convicted of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and attempted rape.

Reynolds has had few family visits while in prison, and his parents wanted nothing to do with his request for clemency last summer.

His sister, Lori Reynolds of Akron, said she remains so upset by the murder that she hasn't spoken to her older brother since his arrest.

"I personally feel that it's time for this to be done. Things just need put to rest," Lori Reynolds said. She knew of no plans by her family to attend the execution.

Hand said she doesn't expect Reynolds' execution to make anything better for the Foster family.

"I don't think there will ever be closure in a case like this," she said. "Even though we have such great memories of my grandmother, it's always clouded by the tragic way she died."

To read more;
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/03/ohio_tries_again_to_execute_la.html

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Inmate who killed Cuyahoga Falls woman found unconscious in cell; execution might be delayed

Tuesday's scheduled execution of convicted killer Lawrence Reynolds Jr. might be delayed after he was found unconscious in his cell Sunday night.

Reynolds — who was scheduled to die for killing his neighbor, Loretta Foster of Cuyahoga Falls, in 1994 — was found unconscious at 11:30 p.m. Sunday in his cell at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

He is currently in serious condition at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown.

''We suspect self-injurious behavior and possibly an attempted overdose,'' said Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.

Walburn said officials believe Reynolds may have overdosed on pills. She did not know what kind.

Walburn said Reynolds is currently unconscious but could not provide further information.

Reynolds' death warrant expires Tuesday at midnight.

He cannot be executed until he is healthy enough to be released from the hospital.

Walburn said the state has a constitutional duty to care for Reynolds.

It was unclear today whether his execution would go forward.

To read more;
www.ohio.com/news/break_news/86860112.html

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There used to be a wooden swing where Loretta Foster would sit outside her home.

From there, she'd greet family and friends and walk inside for a cup of coffee, a lot of conversation and a couple of hands of cards.

At age 67, the widow was hardly lonely. Her only son, her granddaughters, her sisters, were always minutes away. Her Schiller Avenue Cape Cod home was rarely empty or unhappy.

That all changed on Jan. 11, 1994.

That's the night Lawrence Reynolds Jr., the neighbor kid she watched grow up, came knocking at her door. He was drunk, high, broke and angry.

He left with $40 in cash, a blood-stained rope and sore hands.

On Tuesday, after more than 15 years on Ohio's death row, Reynolds is set to be executed. His appeals appear exhausted.

Reynolds, 43, who has never denied the killing, has declined requests for interviews. He has also instructed his public defenders not to speak about his case other than matters regarding his legal appeals, said Amy Borrow, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Public Defender's Office.

Foster's granddaughters — Gail Hand, 40, and her sister Patty Solomon, 41 — recently sat on a couch opposite the teetering stack of appeals filed in Reynolds' case.

It's time, they say, to end the paper chase.

''I've always been about choices,'' Hand said. ''You make choices and there are consequences for your choices.

''When you come down morally, it's tough. But it's also tough that we have to be put in this position. It's not our choice to be going through this.''

The two women, Hand a teacher and Solomon a purchasing agent, grew up in the Falls a bike ride away from their grandmother's house. Visits were as frequent as the cherry pie and grandmother's hug waiting for them.

Foster was part of ''The Club,'' a card-playing group of women in the family who met weekly to play spades and share stories. Other visitors found themselves at the same card table.

''She always talked people into playing a game of cards,'' Solomon said.

Foster was widowed for 19 years but lived in the house for decades. She had one child, her son, Michael, who never moved from the Falls.

Michael Foster's daughters would visit often, helping with chores, grocery shopping or just to chat.

The Reynolds family lived three doors away for decades. Larry Reynolds' two sisters were so close to Foster, they were almost considered grandchildren.

''She was just well loved by everyone,'' Solomon said. ''She was the kind of neighbor everyone came to visit, to help her out or play. She loved people and shared herself with everyone.''

Introverted teen

Reynolds was a different story.

He was an introvert who tasted his first sip of alcohol at age 14. He had few friends at Cuyahoga Falls High School and found refuge alone in his bedroom. After graduation, he joined the Army and spent the next six years there, fixing radios and visiting military clubs.

When he returned home, he found himself lost and unemployed. Drinking became his escape. He worked for an uncle installing windows, but booze made going to work in the morning arduous.

He sold Christmas trees around the holiday in late 1993. He also did some paint work in the basement for Foster.

But his behavior made the widow uneasy, especially the last year of her life. She believed he was making crank phone calls, so many that she had to change her telephone number.

She also thought he was the source of the pounding noise she heard on her window for several nights. His unexpected visits were alarming. She didn't want him to come inside; he'd jump and hide.

Foster shared her worry with her son, who reminded her he was only minutes away.

''She was nervous because Larry had been coming over and she didn't understand why,'' Hand said. ''She was just feeling uncomfortable. I believe she had a sixth sense.''

Things were so bad, Foster went to her doctor. Her blood pressure was rising right alongside her nerves.

On the night of Jan. 11, Reynolds came knocking again, this time with a letter from his sister, he told Foster. She opened the door. There was no letter.

At his trial, Reynolds and his attorneys said he was drunk and high and looking for money.

''I know that contorted my brain,'' Reynolds told a jury.

Other motives suspected

Foster's family believes he had other motives; she would have easily surrendered cash to make Reynolds go away. Instead, Reynolds went ballistic on the elderly woman before she could reach a phone.

She was beaten in the head with a thick, wooden tent stake more than a dozen times. Her clothes were partially removed. She was choked so hard, Reynolds would later tell his friends, that his hands were injured with rope burns.

He left with $40, a blank check, the rope and tent stake and headed to a bowling alley to meet his brother and friends. There, Reynolds boasted about the killing. By 4 a.m., the friends went to see for themselves. Police were called and Reynolds was arrested from his bedroom.

''I have no defense,'' Reynolds told the jury, adding an apology to the Foster family. ''I wish I could bring her back.''

Reynolds was convicted of aggravated murder, robbery, burglary, kidnapping and attempted rape. The jury ignored his pleas to ''spare my life.''

The Foster and Reynolds families are no longer close. The Fosters told prosecutors before the trial that they wanted the prosecution to pursue the death penalty for Reynolds instead of a sentence that could have let him out of jail at some point.

Ironically, the families passed each other recently at the cemetery where Loretta Foster is buried.

''We have no resentment toward them,'' Hand said. ''They lost a friend. They lost a son.''

Appeals attempts

Over the past 15-plus years, Reynolds has appealed his case, trying to get off death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary near Youngstown. He was set to be executed last fall when Gov. Ted Strickland imposed a moratorium on the death penalty until the state established a new injection policy.

Last fall, a clemency hearing was held before the Ohio Parole Board. Solomon and Hand attended. Details of what happened to their grandmother, facts they weren't able to comprehend at the trial, were reopened.

''It was just raw emotion that you didn't know how to close,'' Solomon said.

''It was worse than the trial,'' Hand said.

Strickland has yet to rule on Reynolds' request for clemency.

Reynolds' stay is over. His appeal before a federal appeals court over the single-drug injection process the state is now using was denied Friday. Other inmates with similar appeals have been executed in the new year.

Reynolds is expected to arrive today at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, where Ohio carries out its executions.

His sister, Lori Reynolds of Akron, told the Associated Press that she remains so upset by the murder that she hasn't spoken to her older brother since his arrest.

''I personally feel that it's time for this to be done. Things just need put to rest,'' she said. She knew of no plans by her family to attend the execution.

Execution witnesses

Solomon is one of three Foster family members who will witness the execution. A niece and great-niece will also be witnesses. Two of Reynolds' friends and his attorney will serve as witnesses for the inmate.

Hand declined to attend. She will, however, be at the Lucasville prison.

The granddaughters said they don't know how they will feel after Reynolds dies. Instead, they will focus on their grandmother.

They said they try to remember the good times, the card games that their grandmother wouldn't let them win, the Christmas parties with the throng of relatives, the trips to the store with Grandma.

But those memories, they said, are always clouded.

''On top of every good memory,'' Solomon said, ''is a bad memory of what happened to her.''

To read more;
www.ohio.com/news/86794682.html

[thinkinkmesa]

The niece of Lawrence Reynolds' murder victim wants answers from state prisons officials on how the Death Row inmate obtained whatever he used in what appears to be an attempted overdose hours before he was to be transported to the site of his scheduled execution.
Denise Turchiano, an Orrville woman who is scheduled towitness Reynolds' execution Tuesday, reacted in anger and disbelief at the news.
"Who gave him this, and why was he not being watched," she said. "I want answers. ... Somebody better answer how in the hell this is happening in the system."
Lawrence Reynolds was to be transported to the Death House at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility early Monday morning.
Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said Reynolds was found in his cell at the Ohio State Penitentiary about 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
He was transported by ambulance to the St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he remained this morning.
"He is in serious condition and is unconscious," Walburn said, adding, "At this point, we don't know the impact this will have on the scheduled execution tomorrow."
Prison officials suspect Reynolds attempted to overdose. Walburn declined to comment on medications he had access to and said an investigation into the matter was continuing.
Reynolds would have to be medically stable and released from the hospital in order to move forward with the execution, Walburn said.
In January 1994, Reynolds conned his way into the home Loretta Mae Foster, a 67-year-old neighbor. He beat her with a tent pole, tied her up with a telephone cord and strangled her to death.
Reynolds took about $40 in cash and a blank check belonging to the victim; Foster's nude body was later found on the floor of her house, after Reynolds bragged to friends about the killing. He was convicted for murder, kidnapping, burglary and attempted rape and sentenced to death.
www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/4784437

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A convicted killer found unconscious in prison a little more than a day before his scheduled execution has been hospitalized in serious condition as authorities investigate a possible overdose, prison officials said Monday.

Lawrence Reynolds Jr., 43, who was sentenced to die for killing his neighbor in 1994, was found unconscious about 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn said. He was alone in his cell on death row, she said.

Reynolds, who was expected to survive, appears to have taken an overdose of pills, Walburn said. She didn’t say what kind or how he got them.

Walburn said Reynolds’ injuries were self-imposed, but she declined to call it a suicide attempt. She didn’t elaborate. Prison guards had been frequently monitoring him, she said.

Reynolds was being treated at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown. The status of his scheduled execution Tuesday was uncertain.

Reynolds has been challenging Ohio’s new lethal injection procedure, which uses a one-drug system instead of three drugs. As expected, his attorneys filed an appeal Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to postpone the execution.

Messages seeking comment were left Monday at the Ohio Public Defender’s office, which is representing Reynolds.

This appears to be the first time since Ohio reinstated the death penalty in 1999 that an inmate scheduled for execution “has been found unresponsive mere hours from being transported” to the state death chamber, Walburn said.

Reynolds was to leave at 3 a.m. Monday for the Southern Ohio Correctional
Facility in Lucasville, where the state’s death chamber is located.

His death warrant expires at midnight Tuesday and would likely have to be reissued if his lethal injection has not taken place by that time, Walburn said.
Reynolds was sentenced to die for strangling his 67-year-old neighbor in her Cuyahoga Falls home to get money for his alcohol addiction.
Tuesday would be the second time the state has tried to execute Reynolds. He was scheduled to die last October, but Gov. Ted Strickland delayed the execution so the state could review its lethal injection procedure.

Since then, Ohio has switched from a three-drug process, which opponents said could cause severe pain, to the one-drug system. Reynolds lost a bid to have the execution delayed so he could challenge the new system when federal appeals court on Friday denied his request.

Three inmates have been executed with the state’s new, one-drug new method, and in each case death came in just a few minutes. Washington last week became the second state to adopt the procedure.

toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100308/NEWS24/100309762

[thinkinkmesa]

State resets execution date for Northeast Ohio man who apparently tried to kill himself

A northeast Ohio man who was scheduled to be executed tomorrow (Tuesday) has been given an extra week to live.
Governor Ted Strickland has denied clemency to Lawrence Reynolds Junior, but did give him a temporary reprieve after Reynolds was found unconscious in his Youngstown prison cell shortly before midnight Sunday.

Reynolds was taken to a hospital while the state investigated whether he tried to overdose on pills, and Strickland rescheduled the execution for March 16th. He's reportedly regaining consciousness.

State prison spokeswoman Julie Walburn says the circumstances are unique.

Reynolds was sentenced to die for strangling his 67-year-old neighbor in Cuyahoga Falls in 1994. The state had been planning to transport him to southern Ohio for tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) execution.

To access audio;
www.wksu.org/news/story/25047

[thinkinkmesa]

Gov. Ted Strickland issued a seven-day reprieve to convicted murderer Lawrence Reynolds, postponing his scheduled execution for one week while he recuperates from a suspected suicide attempt late Sunday night.
State prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn confirmed the reprieve, with a new execution date set for March 16 at 10 a.m. Strickland also has denied clemency in the case.
According to a statement from the governor's office, "Mr. Reynolds’ current medical condition has made it impossible to proceed with the scheduled execution tomorrow."
Reynolds was to be transported to the Death House at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility early Monday morning. But he was found unconscious in his cell at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday and was transported by ambulance to the St. Elizabeth Health Center, Walburn said.
He was in serious condition and remained unconscious during the morning but had stabilized after midday.
"His medical condition has been upgraded," Walburn said. "He is now in stable condition and is showing signs of consciousness."
Prison officials suspect Reynolds attempted to overdose.Walburn declined to comment on medications he had access to and said an investigation into the matter was continuing.
Reynolds has been cited three times since entering death row on drug-related issues, according to informationsubmitted to the state parole board:
In January 1996 and June 2002, Reynolds was caught with "hooch," or homemade alcohol. In November 1997, he received a box of instant soup packets with marijuana hidden inside.
The niece of Reynolds' murder victim wants answers from state prisons officials on how the Death Row inmate obtained whatever he used in what appears to be an attempted overdose hours before he was to be transported to the site of his scheduled execution.
Denise Turchiano, an Orrville woman who was scheduled to witness Reynolds' execution Tuesday, reacted in anger and disbelief at the news of Reynolds’ suicide attempt.
"Who gave him this, and why was he not being watched," she said. "I want answers. ... Somebody better answer how in the hell this is happening in the system."
Death row inmates scheduled for execution are placed under constant surveillance 72 hours prior to their lethal injections. Guards are placed outside cell doors and regular checks are conducted, Walburn said.
"We are doing an investigation to determine whether everything was done in accordance with policy," she said.
In January 1994, Reynolds conned his way into the home Loretta Mae Foster, a 67-year-old neighbor. He beat her with a tent pole, tied her up with a telephone cord and strangled her to death.
Reynolds took about $40 in cash and a blank check belonging to the victim; Foster's nude body was later found on the floor of her house, after Reynolds bragged to friends about the killing. He was convicted for murder, kidnapping, burglary and attempted rape and sentenced to death.
www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/4784641

[thinkinkmesa]

Governor's Statement Regarding Executive Clemency Application of Lawrence Reynolds
and Issuance of Seven-Day Temporary Reprieve

Governor Ted Strickland today issued the following statement regarding the Ohio Parole Board's recommendation against executive clemency for Lawrence Reynolds and issued a temporary reprieve to postpone the execution until next Tuesday, March 16 due to the inmate's medical condition and the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's capability to carry out the sentence.
"As a result of his conviction for aggravated murder, Mr. Lawrence Reynolds is scheduled to be executed on March 9, 2010 at 10 a.m. I have completed a review of the circumstances surrounding his case to determine if executive clemency is warranted.


"In conducting this evaluation, my staff and I reviewed the record of proceedings and the evidence presented in Mr. Reynolds' case, the judicial decisions regarding Mr. Reynolds' conviction, and arguments presented for and against clemency at the Parole Board hearing regarding his application for executive clemency. We have also reviewed institutional records and letters received in the Governor's Office regarding this matter. And we have reviewed the unanimous recommendation against clemency forwarded to me by the Ohio Parole Board on September 17, 2009, along with the exhibits presented at the Parole Board's hearing, letters received by the Parole Board regarding Mr. Reynolds' case, and a supplemental brief submitted to the Governor by Mr. Reynolds' counsel after the Parole Board made its recommendation.

"Based on this review, I concur with the Parole Board recommendation."

Although the governor denied Mr. Reynolds' application for a commutation of his death sentence, Mr. Reynolds' current medical condition has made it impossible to proceed with the scheduled execution tomorrow. Based on Reynolds' medical condition and Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Ernie L. Moore's recommendation, the governor has issued a seven-day reprieve, postponing Mr. Reynold's execution until Tuesday, March 16 at 10 a.m.

Below is a copy of the warrant of reprieve:
1. Lawrence R. Reynolds is currently in the custody of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, has been sentenced to death, and is scheduled to be executed on March 9, 2010.

2. Mr. Reynolds' medical condition at the time of this reprieve has made it impossible to proceed with his execution tomorrow.

3. Ohio Revised Code Section 2967.08 provides that the Governor may grant a reprieve for a definite time to a person under sentence of death, with or without notices or application.

4. Accordingly, I direct that the sentence of death for Lawrence R. Reynolds be reprieved until March 16, 2010.

5. Mr. Reynolds should remain incarcerated in the custody of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The Departments should carry out Mr. Reynolds' sentence on that day.

6. I signed this Warrant of Reprieve on March 8, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio


____________________
Ted Strickland, Governor


Filed this 8th day of March 2010 with the Summit County Common Pleas Clerk of Court by Jose A. Torres.
governor.ohio.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=1554

[thinkinkmesa]

Inmate Lawrence Reynolds' decision to attempt death on his terms before the state could execute him left Ohio officials with a dilemma.

Save him or let him die?

Reynolds, 43, who was to be lethally injected at 10 a.m. today, got a one-week reprieve yesterday as he regained consciousness in a Youngstown hospital after an apparent suicide attempt late Sunday.

The Akron man now has until next Tuesday to recover from the overdose before the state injects him with a dose of thiopental sodium, a powerful anesthetic that will most likely kill him within minutes.

The state will pay for Reynolds' medical treatment until he can be returned to Death Row at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, where he was housed, or to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville, where executions take place.

Reynolds was convicted and sentenced to death for the Jan. 11, 1994, murder of Loretta Foster, 64, his neighbor in Akron. Reynolds tried to rape the woman before strangling her and beating her with a tent pole. He later took friends back to the house to see her body.

Many Dispatch.com readers who commented on the story yesterday seemed to agree with this reaction: "We were gonna kill him anyways, why not just let him ... die from the overdose?"

Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said the state has two legal obligations.

"We have a constitutional duty to provide health care for this inmate until the execution commences. And we are legally responsible to carry out executions under the law. We will meet both our legal obligations."

Walburn said a full investigation is being conducted into how Reynolds, while on Death Row at the state's maximum-security prison, obtained drugs sufficient to cause an overdose.

He was found unconscious in his cell at the Youngstown prison at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. He was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital, where he remained in serious condition until midday yesterday, when he showed signs of regaining consciousness and was upgraded to stable condition.

Reynolds was not expected to be released from the hospital yesterday.

That prompted Gov. Ted Strickland to use his executive clemency power to grant a reprieve. Had the governor not acted, Reynolds' death warrant would have expired, forcing the Ohio Supreme Court to set a new execution date several weeks or months in the future.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C., said Reynolds' suicide attempt raises ethical questions for both the state and medical personnel.

"The ordinary care would be to keep him in the hospital under observation. For doctors it raises the concern, 'Is he being patched up enough so he can be executed?' " he said. "What are our standards of decency in these life-and-death situations?"

While suicide attempts are common in prison, it is the first time an Ohio Death Row inmate tried to kill himself before the state could do it.

Such incidents are more common in Texas, the national leader in executions.

In 2006, condemned prisoner Michael Dewayne Johnson slit his throat less than 24 hours before his scheduled execution using a makeshift knife made from a sharpened piece of metal on a wood stick. His final legal appeal was pending.

Also in Texas in 1997, David Lee Herman slashed his throat and slit his wrist, but he was flown to a hospital where he was treated and returned to prison. He was executed about 24 hours later.

To read more;
www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/03/09/copy/state-doesnt-let-condemned-man-kill-himself.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

[thinkinkmesa]

Killer's possible overdose postpones execution
Falls native taken to hospital instead of state's death house; victim's family is frustrated

Prison officials have found themselves in a conundrum: saving the life of an inmate in order to carry out his death sentence.

With his execution less than 36 hours away, guards on Ohio's death row found inmate Lawrence Reynolds Jr. unconscious Sunday night inside his cell.

Instead of traveling to the state's death house near Lucasville, Reynolds was taken to a nearby hospital in Youngstown to be treated for a possible drug overdose.

His condition merely delayed his execution. By Monday afternoon, Reynolds, 43, was emerging from the coma and Gov. Ted Strickland had issued a seven-day reprieve.

Reynolds is now set to be executed next Tuesday for the 1994 robbery and murder of his lifelong Cuyahoga Falls neighbor, 67-year-old Loretta Foster.

''Unbelievable. Shock. Disappointment. Just frustrating is the word, I guess,'' said Gail Hand, one of Foster's granddaughters. ''We're completely frustrated with the system, with [Reynolds], everything. We just want this chapter to end and move on.''

Hand was to travel to Lucasville on Monday with her sister, Patty Solomon, who will witness the execution with two other relatives. They found out late Monday morning that today's execution had been delayed.

Reynolds, formerly of Cuyahoga Falls, was to be moved Monday morning to the Southern Ohio Correctional
Facility near Lucasville where the state performs executions.

Prison spokeswoman Julie Walburn said Reynolds, like other inmates nearing execution, was under a ''death watch'' Sunday and his actions and mood were being monitored closely.

Walburn could not say what pills were used or how Reynolds might have acquired them. She said it appears to be an intentional overdose, but the prison wouldn't classify it as a suicide attempt.

An investigation is under way, she said.

The Rev. Ernie Sanders, who serves as Reynolds' spiritual adviser, was driving to Lucasville on Monday when he heard the news. The Chester Township minister, who was to witness the execution, said he suspected something was amiss after Reynolds failed to call him as promised Sunday evening.

''He has been fairly stable for a guy about to be executed,'' Sanders said. ''We spend time with him studying the Scripture. He said he had made peace with the Lord and he was ready to go home with him. Of course, he said he'd much rather stay in prison and do ministry from death row.''

Sanders said the paradox of Ohio delaying the execution until Reynolds is healthy was obvious. Prison officials say this appears to be the first time a condemned inmate so close to execution had overdosed since the state resumed the practice in 1999.

''It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but this whole system doesn't make sense,'' Sanders said.

Sunday's events brought out several calls for a review of Ohio's death penalty.

A group called Ohioans to Stop Executions released a statement saying '' . . . the death penalty is unnecessary in Ohio because our execution system is irreparably flawed and because there are viable and just alternatives to execution that can be enacted at a fraction of the cost.''

Besides the reprieve, Strickland also denied clemency for Reynolds, a request that had been sitting with him for about six months.

Reynolds was scheduled for execution in October, but Strickland issued an unofficial moratorium until the state redesigned its lethal injection method.

Ohio now uses a single drug to cause death rather than three. Reynolds and other inmates have filed appeals because of the new method, but none has been successful. Three inmates have been executed with the single-dose procedure.

Reynolds learned Friday that a federal court had denied his latest and possibly last viable appeal.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said Monday that the sentence ''is about justice for Mrs. Foster and her family.''

''Reynolds has put them through a lot over the past 16 years, and now on the eve of justice, he is trying to once again take control to avoid the penalty his crime has called for,'' she said. ''Justice will be served next week.''

To read more;
www.ohio.com/news/87096682.html

[thinkinkmesa]

On what had been his scheduled execution date, a condemned killer remains hospitalized in Ohio following an overdose of pills.
Prison system spokeswoman Julie Walburn said Tuesday that 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds Jr. is still in a Youngstown hospital. She said an update on his condition would be released later.
Reynolds was sentenced to die for killing his neighbor near Akron in 1994. He was found unconscious around 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.
He took the pills despite being under a 72-hour watch – routine for inmates approaching an execution date. What pills he took and how he got them is under investigation.
Gov. Ted Strickland issued a reprieve and rescheduled the execution for next Tuesday.

www.whiotv.com/news/22784743/detail.html

[thinkinkmesa]

There are many interesting observations made at this blog, well worth reading;

gamso-forthedefense.blogspot.com/

gamso-forthedefense.blogspot.com/search/label/Lawrence%20Reynolds

[thinkinkmesa]

Officials say a condemned Ohio inmate who intentionally overdosed on pills hours before his scheduled execution took medication prescribed to him.

Prison system spokeswoman Julie Walburn said Tuesday that 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds Jr. admitted taking an overdose.

The type of drug and why it was prescribed aren’t being disclosed. How he accumulated the pills is under investigation.

Authorities say he is improving at a Youngstown hospital after he was found unconscious in his death row cell Sunday night at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.

He was under surveillance that’s routine for inmates approaching their hour of execution.

blog.taragana.com/health/2010/03/09/ohio-officials-say-condemned-killer-who-survived-overdose-took-prescribed-pills-20217/

[thinkinkmesa]

Death Row inmate Lawrence Reynolds was back at the Ohio State Penitentiary the afternoon of March 9 and under around-the-clock observation, to prevent a repeat of what appears to be a suicide attempt that postponed his scheduled execution for strangling his elderly Cuyahoga Falls neighbor.
Reynolds returned to the Youngstown prison just after noon after spending about two days in a hospital after attempting to overdose on prescription drugs.
Julie Walburn, state prisons spokeswoman, said he is being kept in a different cell, away from other inmates, with additional restrictions on his access to personal belongs and activities.
“He will no longer be able to have recreation,” she said. “We are making accommodations to ensure he has attorney access … He won’t be leaving that cell that he’s in right now except under special precautions.”
Prison officials also are continuing to investigate how Reynolds obtained enough prescription pills to attempt an overdose.
“Part of what we are looking into is anyone he would have had contact with and whether that contributed to the incident,” Walburn said.
Reynolds has admitted to prison staff that he took quantities of a prescription drug as part of an overdose that left him unconscious and postponed his scheduled execution by a week.
Walburn said it is still not known how Reynolds obtained quantities of the drug. She would not disclose the type of drug, nor how often Reynolds receives doses, citing the inmate’s medical confidentiality.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Walburn said, adding, “We’re looking at all factors surrounding [this incident] as part of the investigation.”
Reynolds was to be transported to the Death House at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville early March 8.
But he was found unconscious in his cell at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown at about 11:30 p.m. the night before and was transported by ambulance to the St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Gov. Ted Strickland denied clemency for Reynolds March 8 but issued a seven-day reprieve, postponing his scheduled execution for a week. He is now set to be executed March 16.
Strickland, who worked as a prison psychologist at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, said it isn’t unusual for inmates to hoard and exchange medications.
“Having worked in the prison system, I am hugely aware that the inmate population can be very creative in trying to break the rules and overcome the rules,” he said. “It’s happened, but I think these kinds of occurrences, in terms of inmates passing medications and saving medications up and doing those kinds of things, is not a terribly rare thing to have happened.”
Strickland speculated that’s what happened in Reynolds’ case.
“Inmates on Death Row, obviously some of them are on medications of different kinds,” he said. “So I am speculating that they saved up their medications and gave it to this inmate so that he could have a sufficient amount to try to take an overdose. I’m not certain that’s how it happened … I’m speculating out of experience that that’s likely what happened.”
Strickland added, concerning prison officials’ efforts to restore Reynolds’ health prior to his scheduled lethal injection, “It is ironic, obviously, that you would work to keep someone alive when they are scheduled to be executed. But I think the law apparently is very clear that the state has the obligation to attend to an inmate’s medical needs, even a condemned person, until such time as the date of execution occurs and they are in fact executed.”
In January 1994, Reynolds conned his way into the Cuyahoga Falls home of Loretta Mae Foster, a 67-year-old neighbor. He beat her with a tent pole, tied her up with a telephone cord and strangled her to death.
Reynolds took about $40 in cash and a blank check belonging to the victim; Foster’s nude body was later found on the floor of her house, after Reynolds bragged to friends about the killing. He was convicted for murder, kidnapping, burglary and attempted rape and sentenced to death.

To read more;
www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/4785497

[thinkinkmesa]

Officials say an Ohio death row inmate was attempting suicide when he overdosed on pills two days before his scheduled execution.

Spokeswoman Julie Walburn said Wednesday that the determination was made by mental health staff in the prisons department.

She says investigators are exploring whether Lawrence Reynolds Jr. had visitors before the overdose or stockpiled medication prescribed for him.

Reynolds was to have been executed Tuesday but was found unconscious in his cell Sunday and hospitalized. He's back in prison on suicide watch, with his execution rescheduled for next Tuesday.

Prison officials have not identified the drug Reynolds took.
www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/03/10/us/AP-US-Death-Penalty-Ohio.html

[thinkinkmesa]

Less than 48 hours after he tried to cheat the executioner by taking his own life, condemned killer Lawrence Reynolds was back at the Ohio State Penitentiary yesterday.

Reynolds, 43, was placed in an isolation cell on suicide watch after his release from St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown.

His suicide attempt Sunday night with an overdose of an unspecified prescription medication postponed, but did not stop his execution, now scheduled for 10a.m. Tuesday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville.

Dr. Robert D. Truog, a medical ethicist at Harvard Medical School and fellow at the Hastings Center, said Reynolds' medical care should be no different from any other inmate's simply because he's on Death Row.

"At the same time, I don't see any compelling reason why he needs to recover before he is executed," Truog said. "If the state wants to proceed with the execution, and if he is stable enough to be transported from the hospital to the execution chamber, then I think that could occur at any time."

Reynolds was convicted and sentenced to death for the Jan. 11, 1994, murder of Loretta Foster, 64, his neighbor in Akron. Reynolds tried to rape the woman before strangling her and beating her with a tent pole.

Reynolds' suicide attempt prompted Gov. Ted Strickland to use his executive clemency power to grant a one-week reprieve.

Strickland, who was a prison psychologist at the Lucasville prison for eight years, said it is common for prisoners to save up their medications until they have enough for an overdose -- for themselves or another inmate.

"I'm speculating, but I'm speculating out of some experience that that's likely what happened," he told reporters yesterday.

"It is ironic, obviously, that you would work to keep someone alive when they are scheduled to be executed," Strickland said. "But my obligation, and I think the obligation of the state, is to do everything that we can to observe the law as we understand it, and that's what we're doing in this case."

Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn said that after recovering consciousness in the hospital, Reynolds admitted that he intentionally took an overdose of a prescription drug. She said the drug was one prescribed for Reynolds, but she declined to name it, citing medical confidentiality regulations.

She said an investigation is under way into how Reynolds, while under an around-the-clock watch on Death Row at the state's maximum-security prison, obtained drugs sufficient to cause an overdose.

Dispatch reporter Mark Niquette contributed to this story.
www.correctionsone.com/correctional-healthcare/articles/2017258-Suicide-watch-set-for-Reynolds-until-his-execution-date/