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Summit County distributes grants for utility bills
Ohio home sales rise in October
Woman's purse snatched after beer purchase
Akron Circle K store robbed for second time this month
Kent city, university police investigating two robberies
Third suspect arrested in Akron market robbery
Kangaroo tries to drown dog, attacks owner
Fugitive task force reaches milestone
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Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Akron man killed in crash on his street
Browns find another way to lose
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
City, county may ban bias based on sexual orientation
Zips men end tournament with 69-52 win over Howard
Calling hours today for Stefanie Spielman
After 30 years at the helm of Akron Children's, Considine still looks to future
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (70) Savings in Medicare Advantage
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 09:20 p.m. EDT, Oct 13, 2008
Killer has what might be last meal
Beacon Journal staff writer
LUCASVILLE: Richard Wade Cooey spent perhaps his last Monday on Earth, eating steak, visiting with his attorneys and reading the Bible.
At a hotel down the road, the family of one of his victims held out hope that this meal will indeed be Cooey's last after 22 years on Ohio's death row.
Prison officials, meanwhile, are bracing for demonstrators, but not the kind typical of executions.
Spokeswoman Andrea Carson said pro-execution demonstrators arriving by bus from Akron are expected to stand outside the prison walls during the execution.
Carson said the state prison office and the Ohio Parole Board have received many calls and e-mails regarding Cooey. Most, she said, favor his death.
''There's a lot of emotion surrounding this case from the Akron community, a lot of emotion,'' she said.
Cooey is scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Five years ago, the family of Dawn McCreery gathered inside the same hotel, awaiting Cooey's execution. An 11th-hour stay bought the condemned man more time to fight his death and sent the McCreery family home frustrated.
Tuesday might bring a different conclusion. His attorneys said Monday he appears to be out of options.
Cooey, 41, was sentenced to die for the 1986 kidnapping, robbery, rape and murder of McCreery and her University of Akron sorority sister, Wendy Offredo.
He arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility about 9:45 a.m. Monday in preparation for his death. He was given a medical and psychological evaluation.
Carson said an assessment of Cooey's arms revealed two viable veins sufficient for the lethal injections.
Part of Cooey's appeals have been based on his contention that his obesity would complicate the injection process due to poor vein access. He argued that Ohio could not execute him without causing undue pain.
''They were able to see two good veins [Monday],'' Carson said.
About 4 p.m., the 270-pound Cooey was served his last meal: a T-bone steak with A-1 sauce, onion rings, french fries, four eggs over easy, toast with butter, hash browns, rocky road ice cream and bear claw pastry. He drank Mountain Dew.
In 2003, Cooey was also served a last meal, which consisted of a rib-eye steak (medium), two eggs sunny side up, toast with butter, a cheeseburger with the works, onion rings, french fries, two slices of banana cream pie and a couple of 2-liter bottles of Dr Pepper. Later that evening, a federal judge granted his request for a stay of execution.
McCreery's family was jarred then by the delay.
The family held out hope for closure Monday night as the clock wound down. At the hotel, about a dozen relatives were gathered. They spent the evening reminiscing about Dawn and the past 22 years.
Robert McCreery Jr., the victim's brother, said he's been asked how he will feel, if the execution is carried out. He was 17 when his sister, 20, and Offredo, 21, were killed by Cooey and accomplice Clint Dickens.
''I can't answer that question until [it happens],'' he said. ''Hopefully, we'll all be relieved, but I just won't know until [Tuesday]. I've spent most of my adult life waiting for this thing to happen.''
Final visits
In Lucasville, Cooey was visited by his attorney, Dana Cole, and Cole's brother, James, who serves as a spiritual advisor.
Amy Borrow, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Public Defender's Office, said Cooey's appeals to the Ohio and U.S. Supreme courts were both denied Monday. She did not anticipate any additional appeals filed before the execution.
''At this point, it looks like we are out of options,'' Borrow said.
Carson said that no one from Cooey's family is expected to visit the prison before the execution. Some family visited with him last week on death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary, she said.
Cooey will remain in the state death house through the execution process. He has a phone and can watch local television, but not cable. He is to be awakened by 6 a.m. Tuesday.
New prison warden Phillip Kerns is scheduled to read the death warrant about 9:50 a.m. Kerns will be overseeing his first execution. Ohio has executed 26 inmates since resuming the practice in 1999.
Just before 10 a.m., the state's execution team will attempt to insert shunts into Cooey's arms before he is moved to the execution chamber. Carson said there would be no ''artificial time restraints'' placed on the staff attempting to insert the shunts into Cooey's veins.
Family to observe
Six members of McCreery's family are expected to witness the execution along with several media members, prison officials and three of Cooey's attorneys. Offredo's family declined to attend.
Cooey has asked that his body be cremated, at taxpayer expense, and his ashes given to his attorney, Dana Cole. Cole was unable to say last week where the ashes would be spread.
Cooey was compliant and in a ''very good mood'' after his arrival in Lucasville, Carson said.
''He was very conversant with his spiritual advisor,'' she said. ''He didn't have a blue mood or a down mood. He's in a good mood.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
Killer has what might be last meal
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
LUCASVILLE: Richard Wade Cooey spent perhaps his last Monday on Earth, eating steak, visiting with his attorneys and reading the Bible.
At a hotel down the road, the family of one of his victims held out hope that this meal will indeed be Cooey's last after 22 years on Ohio's death row.
Prison officials, meanwhile, are bracing for demonstrators, but not the kind typical of executions.
Spokeswoman Andrea Carson said pro-execution demonstrators arriving by bus from Akron are expected to stand outside the prison walls during the execution.
Carson said the state prison office and the Ohio Parole Board have received many calls and e-mails regarding Cooey. Most, she said, favor his death.
''There's a lot of emotion surrounding this case from the Akron community, a lot of emotion,'' she said.
Cooey is scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Five years ago, the family of Dawn McCreery gathered inside the same hotel, awaiting Cooey's execution. An 11th-hour stay bought the condemned man more time to fight his death and sent the McCreery family home frustrated.
Tuesday might bring a different conclusion. His attorneys said Monday he appears to be out of options.
Cooey, 41, was sentenced to die for the 1986 kidnapping, robbery, rape and murder of McCreery and her University of Akron sorority sister, Wendy Offredo.
He arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility about 9:45 a.m. Monday in preparation for his death. He was given a medical and psychological evaluation.
Carson said an assessment of Cooey's arms revealed two viable veins sufficient for the lethal injections.
Part of Cooey's appeals have been based on his contention that his obesity would complicate the injection process due to poor vein access. He argued that Ohio could not execute him without causing undue pain.
''They were able to see two good veins [Monday],'' Carson said.
About 4 p.m., the 270-pound Cooey was served his last meal: a T-bone steak with A-1 sauce, onion rings, french fries, four eggs over easy, toast with butter, hash browns, rocky road ice cream and bear claw pastry. He drank Mountain Dew.
In 2003, Cooey was also served a last meal, which consisted of a rib-eye steak (medium), two eggs sunny side up, toast with butter, a cheeseburger with the works, onion rings, french fries, two slices of banana cream pie and a couple of 2-liter bottles of Dr Pepper. Later that evening, a federal judge granted his request for a stay of execution.
McCreery's family was jarred then by the delay.
The family held out hope for closure Monday night as the clock wound down. At the hotel, about a dozen relatives were gathered. They spent the evening reminiscing about Dawn and the past 22 years.
Robert McCreery Jr., the victim's brother, said he's been asked how he will feel, if the execution is carried out. He was 17 when his sister, 20, and Offredo, 21, were killed by Cooey and accomplice Clint Dickens.
''I can't answer that question until [it happens],'' he said. ''Hopefully, we'll all be relieved, but I just won't know until [Tuesday]. I've spent most of my adult life waiting for this thing to happen.''
Final visits
In Lucasville, Cooey was visited by his attorney, Dana Cole, and Cole's brother, James, who serves as a spiritual advisor.
Amy Borrow, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Public Defender's Office, said Cooey's appeals to the Ohio and U.S. Supreme courts were both denied Monday. She did not anticipate any additional appeals filed before the execution.
''At this point, it looks like we are out of options,'' Borrow said.
Carson said that no one from Cooey's family is expected to visit the prison before the execution. Some family visited with him last week on death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary, she said.
Cooey will remain in the state death house through the execution process. He has a phone and can watch local television, but not cable. He is to be awakened by 6 a.m. Tuesday.
New prison warden Phillip Kerns is scheduled to read the death warrant about 9:50 a.m. Kerns will be overseeing his first execution. Ohio has executed 26 inmates since resuming the practice in 1999.
Just before 10 a.m., the state's execution team will attempt to insert shunts into Cooey's arms before he is moved to the execution chamber. Carson said there would be no ''artificial time restraints'' placed on the staff attempting to insert the shunts into Cooey's veins.
Family to observe
Six members of McCreery's family are expected to witness the execution along with several media members, prison officials and three of Cooey's attorneys. Offredo's family declined to attend.
Cooey has asked that his body be cremated, at taxpayer expense, and his ashes given to his attorney, Dana Cole. Cole was unable to say last week where the ashes would be spread.
Cooey was compliant and in a ''very good mood'' after his arrival in Lucasville, Carson said.
''He was very conversant with his spiritual advisor,'' she said. ''He didn't have a blue mood or a down mood. He's in a good mood.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Posted 10:17 PM, 10/13/2008
I hope Dana Cole flushes his ashes down the toilet. Let us all feel like we shaat on Cooey.
Posted 11:38 AM, 10/14/2008
Why do they even offer these people "last meals" the girls he killed didn't get a last meal, last phone call, etc. and why do we care if he was in a "good mood" I sure don't, I think the same thing that he did to them should be done to him.
And yeah, flush the ashes in the toilet after someone does number 2 on them.
