The Killer Who Was Too Fat to Die: Coda

The murderer of Dawn McCreery and Wendy Offredo had complained to every court in the land that he was so fat, prison officials would not be able to find a vein for his lethal injection. Prison officials had no such problems, and he died yesterday at 10:28 a.m.

The man who kidnapped, beat, raped and killed the two young woman 22 years ago was mean and hateful to the end, according to my colleague Sherri Bevan Walsh, the Summit County Prosecuting Attorney, who witnessed the execution. He never denied his crimes, and he never apologized.

I am naming only his victims because he does not deserve to be remembered.

It takes well over a decade for a capital sentence to be carried out in Ohio -- more than two decades in this case. The only word for this delay is outrageous. Where there is no doubt about guilt, as in this case, these frivolous appeals over the tiniest speck of an argument ought to be disposed of as quickly as this killer disposed of two promising young lives so very long ago.

After the initial round of appeals, all the federal appeals are handled by the Attorney General. It is time to elect an A.G. who will vigorously defend these appeals and push to shorten the absurd length of time it take for a killer to meet justice.

Many convicted murderers die of natural causes on Death Row, waiting. If we're going to have the death penalty for the worst of the worst, it should mean something beside endless, expensive appeals.