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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2010 22:11:28 GMT -6
Judith Gabbard is my aunt and was brutally murdered by Mike Benge. He has a clemency hearing on Sept. 7th. Judy's family and Ohio's Butler County Prosecutor's Office, is asking for people to sign this petition to deny clemency for Mike Benge. All the information about the case along with the petition is in the link below. www.countyprosecutor.org/Petition.cfm Thank You, Kenny Farley
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Post by Charlene on Aug 22, 2010 22:17:36 GMT -6
Hi Kenny. Thanks for posting this. I posted it to our Facebook group as well.
Charlene
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2010 23:07:10 GMT -6
When Kathy Johnson last saw her sister’s killer in a Butler County courtroom, she told him: “I will watch you take your last breath.”
Now, 17 years later, Johnson may be able to follow through on that promise.
The Ohio Supreme Court on Friday set an Oct. 6 execution date for Michael Benge, now 48. He was sentenced to die for the 1993 bludgeoning of Johnson’s sister, Judith Gabbard. Benge beat Gabbard to death with a tire iron and dragged her body into the Great Miami River.
He placed 35 pounds of concrete chunks atop her body in an attempt to keep the body submerged and undiscovered. Then he stole $400 from her bank account, using her ATM card.
If the fall execution is carried out, Benge will be the first Butler County killer to be put to death since 1948, when Clifford Gayles was executed, Ohio prison records show.
Benge was convicted of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and abuse of a corpse in 1993, just months after Gabbard was slain.
Judge Michael Sage set Benge’s first execution date for Feb. 1, 1994. But that date came and went, along with three other dates, as Benge’s case worked its way through state and federal appeals.
All have failed.
Now Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper, who tried the case when he was an assistant prosecutor, vows to do all he can to prevent Benge from getting the clemency he has sought from the Ohio Parole Board, which will make a recommendation to Gov. Ted Strickland.
“I’ll fight the clemency proceedings tooth and nail, and if anyone saw what he did to Judy, they would understand why,” Piper said.
Gabbard, a divorced mother of two who had dated Benge, had been struck about a dozen times with the tire iron, causing severe gashes to her head and face. The two apparently had argued over Benge’s drug use.
“One blow just about took off her ear…you could see where the octagonal lug-nut part of the tire iron caved in her skull,” Piper said.
That brutality haunted Johnson.
“All I could imagine was the fear that she was going through, the pain she was going through,” Johnson said.
Gabbard had been supervisor of the dietary department at Mercy Hospital North, Johnson said, and was the second of nine children in Hamilton’s close-knit Whitlock family.
“My family got together all the time. People used to say, ‘You guys just make up holidays, just to get together,’” said Johnson, who still lives in Butler County. “But things changed after my sister was killed…Your family was broken and you can’t put it back together.”
Johnson remembers how she felt when she learned a jury had convicted Benge and recommended a death sentence.
“I thought ‘My sister got justice,’” Johnson said, “even though justice will never be complete until he takes his last breath.”
Since Benge’s conviction, the suffering has continued. Johnson said she can hardly recall any of the first eight years after her sister’s death. It’s all a foggy, depressed blur.
In a phone interview, Johnson began to sob as she described how much she still misses her sister.
“Our mom’s sick now, and she would’ve been the first one there to help her,” Johnson said.
Piper said 17 years is a long time, but he knows of many death-penalty cases that have been drawn out longer.
“These death penalty cases get so much review it’s almost impossible to see the sentence actually carried out…you don’t see very many that make it to the final point,” he said. “They ask for appeals and they appeal the denial of the appeal…they ask for some motion and they appeal the denial of the motion. It seems to go on forever sometimes.”
The Benge case had few appealable issues, Piper said.
“Because it was such an uncomplicated trial, it probably has moved faster through the system than other cases,” he said.
Johnson said she and her family are grateful to Piper for working so diligently on the case and keeping them informed over the years.
“He was there for our family,” Johnson said. “You can’t take that kind of pain away but he helped us quite a bit.”
Piper said the family’s devastation struck him.
“I worked with a family that literally had their hearts ripped out of their chest, walking around with gaping wounds in their chest from the loss of Judy Gabbard,” he said. “There was such destruction and havoc and despair and depression put into people’s lives…And then it’s up to me, the prosecutor, to seek justice.”
When a prosecutor sees such cases, it becomes apparent that certain cases are appropriate for the death penalty “and this is one of those cases,” Piper said. Piper said he doesn’t wish any ill will to Benge’s family.
“And it’s not about necessarily wishing any ill will to him, but the law must be carried out,” Piper said. “It needs to just be over.”
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Post by reapwysow on Aug 23, 2010 2:05:24 GMT -6
They want too much personal information. I saw no encription data on the site.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 23, 2010 6:40:55 GMT -6
They want too much personal information. I saw no encription data on the site. You can send a letter directly to the governor here: Governor Ted Strickland Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6108 Phone/Fax General Info: (614) 466-3555 Fax: (614) 466-9354
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Post by SubSurfCPO(ret) on Aug 23, 2010 12:52:05 GMT -6
While it is not encrypted and is missing other items which normally make such a website suspect; I did track it back to a link on the county prosecutor's page countyprosecutor.org/. So, I do not suspect anything sinister here, but keep in mind reapwysow's concerns are valid and Char has provide an alternative pathway.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2010 12:32:16 GMT -6
Thanks to all who helped and signed the petition, the clemency hearing is in the morning @ 10am.
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Post by reapwysow on Sept 6, 2010 12:34:36 GMT -6
Thanks to all who helped and signed the petition, the clemency hearing is in the morning @ 10am. good luck friend.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2010 16:34:48 GMT -6
The clemency hearing took 7 hours today. The Ohio Parole Board said they would have a decision on the 15th. so i will try to keep everyone updated... and thanks again.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2010 17:53:22 GMT -6
COLUMBUS - The family of a Butler County killer asked the state to spare his life Tuesday, while the prosecutor maintained Michael Benge keeps changing accounts of the murder to delay his execution, now set for Oct 6. Benge, 49, was convicted of beating Judith Gabbard, 38, to death in 1993 before tossing her body in the Great Miami River near Ohio 128 south of Hamilton, and stealing her bank card to feed his cocaine habit. His live-in girlfriend had kicked him out and badgered him about his drug habit. Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper told the Ohio Parole Board Tuesday that Benge has been changing his accounts of the murder for years, calling him a liar and a thief. "Judy also deserves justice,'' Piper said. The Parole Board plans to make a recommendation on life in prison or the death penalty to Gov. Ted Strickland on Sept. 15. Benge placed 35 pounds of concrete chunks atop her body to keep the body submerged and undiscovered, according to court records. He later stole $400 from Gabbard's bank account, using her ATM card, but initially told police two unknown black men beat and robbed the couple. If the execution is carried out, Benge will be the first Butler County killer to be put to death since 1948, when Clifford Gayles was executed. Benge's mother, Juanita Babb, testified Tuesday that two of her son's stepfathers abused him, but said he was supportive to her from prison while she cared for a spouse suffering from Alzheimer's disease. "I need my son in my life,'' Babb told parole board members. "I'm begging you to spare my son's life.'' Benge's two sisters and two grown children - both of whom have served in the U.S. military -- also asked the Parole Board to spare his life. They said their father has been instrumental in making them productive adults, writing to them regularly. And Benge's ex-wife, Peggy Ferneding, testified via videotape: "I feel very sorry for Judy's family, but I just don't think he should be executed.'' Benge's public defenders and spiritual adviser said that he had become a role model for other inmates, inspiring them to attend Bible class and make jewelry boxes and other artwork. But Piper and Assistant Ohio Attorney General Stephen Maher said Benge helped facilitate a riot on Death Row at Mansfield prison in 1997 when he persuaded a corrections officer to open a basketball cage while making hand signals to other inmates. Gabbard, a divorced mother of two, was struck at least a dozen times with the tire iron, causing severe gashes to her head and face. She was a supervisor of the dietary department at Mercy Hospital North, and the second of nine children in Hamilton's Whitlock family. news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20100907/NEWS010702/9080337/
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