WARREN - When Jason Getsy shot him in the face at point-blank range 14 years ago, Chuck Serafino said he was sure he would die.
A bullet from Getsy's .357 Magnum shattered Serafino's front teeth, went through his throat and pierced the back of his neck, exiting and just missing his spine. That was after Getsy already used his SKS assault rifle to tear apart the Serafino home in Hubbard Township, hitting Serafino three other times including one shot that nearly severed Serafino's arm.
Getsy had already pistol-whipped Serafino's mother, Ann, 66, and still hadn't gone back to her bedroom to kill her execution style, while uttering the words ''die b--!''
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Jason Getsy is scheduled to die Tuesday.
Forensic experts found Chuck Serafino's blood on the barrel of Getsy's revolver.
Friday though, Serafino was more assured that Getsy - and not himself - would be facing death soon.
''The governor did the right thing. It's what should be done,'' Serafino said after hearing that Gov. Ted Strickland set aside a recommendation for clemency for Getsy, 33, and allowed for his Tuesday morning execution to go forward.
''Justice won today,'' said Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, who worked feverishly to persuade the governor to ignore the board's recommendation.
''He made the decision to kill. This case is as bad as it gets,'' Watkins said. ''This was just evil.''
The prosecutor helped coordinate a petition drive that produced at least 2,000 signatures in favor of death, including 150 to 200 from the local General Motors plant. There was even a signature and a petition circulated by a juror who heard the Getsy case in the courtroom of Judge W. Wyatt McKay and found the then-19-year-old defendant guilty as charged and then recommended the death penalty to the judge, who later imposed it.
There were countless e-mails sent to the governor through his deputy counsel Jose Torres and letters from prosecutors across the state backing Watkins and his warning that freeing Getsy from the death penalty would set a dangerous precedent in many court proceedings. A police chiefs association also backed Watkins.
Finally, Watkins also got an endorsement from Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who in a last minute letter to Strickland said that Getsy ''is not the kind of individual who is deserving of special mercy in the clemency process.
''Getsy's request for clemency should be evaluated based on his own culpability, and not based on what evidence was available to be presented or how it may have been interpreted in a co-defendant's case. We feel strongly that this is not a justifiable basis for commuting the death sentence on the facts of this case and we believe the precedent set by the Parole Board here would be detrimental to Ohio's system of justice,'' Cordray wrote.
The board earlier last month voted 5-2 for a rare reprieve after being convinced by Getsy's attorneys that their client didn't deserve death since the older co-defendant, John Santine, who planned the murder and hired Getsy and others didn't get the death penalty.
Strickland said in his statement Friday morning:
''Substantial attention has been focused on the different sentences imposed upon Mr. Getsy and his co-defendant, Mr. Santine. Mr. Getsy and Mr. Santine had different roles in the murder. The fact that Mr. Santine was not sentenced to death is not, by itself, justification to commute Mr. Getsy's sentence. Mr. Getsy's sentence was based on his conduct and based upon our review, which included consideration of the differing Santine and Getsy sentences. I do not believe executive clemency is warranted. Although my decision is inconsistent with the recommendation of the majority of the members of the Parole Board, I appreciate and respect their thoughtful consideration and review of this difficult case.''
Attorney John Shultz, one of a three-member defense team that represented Getsy at trial, questioned the governor's decision:
''I'm not shocked, but I am disappointed. When he (Strickland) ran for office he said he was opposed to the death penalty. He succumbed to the pressure of prosecutors and police chiefs. The governor is wishy-washy. I'm not saying he (Getsy) doesn't deserve to be punished. But, we have Charles Manson still out there and Getsy gets executed? That's what's on my mind today,'' Shultz said.
Barring any last-minute delay with the U.S. Supreme Court saying they would hear any cruel or unusual punishment arguments dealing with Ohio's form of lethal injection, Getsy's execution is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday in the death room at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.
He will be transported there about 24 hours before the execution is to take place.
Ohio has executed 31 men since reinstating the death penalty in 1981. The parole board has recommended clemency only three times.
It would be Trumbull County's first death row inmate executed. There are 10 Trumbull County death row inmates, including Getsy, facing execution.