WARREN — The man convicted of killing a Howland elementary school principal in 1991 is up for parole, and Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins wants to make sure the man stays locked up.

Watkins wrote the Ohio Parole Board opposing parole for John W. Smith, who is serving a sentence of 15- years-to-life for killing Larry Graber, 54, the principal at Howland Springs Elementary School who also served on the LaBrae school board.

A Mosquito Lake State Park ranger found Graber, of Braceville, severely beaten at the park June 14, 1991. Graber died that day from several wounds to his head and upper body.

According to the letter Watkins wrote to Andre Imbrogno, parole board chairman, Graber’s autopsy report showed he was blindsided with a beer bottle, punched, stomped upon and struck repeatedly with wooden sticks.

“People who are able to commit such excessive violence on helpless human beings need to be warehoused especially when, after the murder, they take pride in what they did,” Watkins wrote.

Smith, now 46, told police he beat Graber to thwart a sexual advance by the educator. But Smith’s defense attorney said after sentencing that it was not true. A polygraph test later showed the two men only exchanged words before the beating. Earlier in the evening, Graber and a man fitting Smith’s description were seen together in a bar in Warren.

Smith’s hearing is scheduled for this month before three members of the parole board at the Marion Correctional Institution, where he is jailed. The panel could forward the case to the full board or deny parole. Records show Smith has been denied parole several times.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com