Keep ‘brutal’ murderer Benjamin Green behind bars, county pleads
Benjamin Green’s parole hearing set for November
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WARREN -- An inmate from Warren described by Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker as "a brutal, calculated, cold-blooded killer" will have a parole hearing in November.
Becker has written a letter to the state parole board opposing the potential release of Benjamin Green, who was convicted in the August 2000 shooting death of 18-year-old John Williamson.
Williamson was shot along Austin Avenue and Oak Street SW. Green, who turns 40 on Aug. 30, has spent the last 21-plus years in prison on a life sentence.
Four years ago, the 11th District Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling by a Trumbull County judge that denied Green's motion to withdraw a guilty plea.
At the time of the slaying, Green was 16 when he fired four shots at Williamson, who at the time was riding his bicycle near Austin and Oak. A single gunshot penetrated the back of the man's head, killing him.
"The defendant ... executed the victim as the victim was riding a bicycle on the streets of Warren. The victim fell off of his bicycle, and the defendant then walked up to the injured victim and executed him by shooting him in the head," Becker wrote.
Green told law enforcement that he shot the bicyclist because he believed he had a gun. Williamson stood 4-foot-3-inches tall and weighed less than 100 pounds.
"The defendant claims he was afraid of the victim but yet shot and killed him without the victim so much as threatening the defendant -- let alone doing anything that would warrant his death," Becker wrote.
Green claimed in his appeal to withdraw his plea that evidence from his interrogation was obtained by illegal means, because he was not accompanied by a lawyer. An appellate court went against Green's claim and ruled he had signed a statement waiving his right to have a lawyer present when interviewed by detectives.
On Feb. 7, 2002, former Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Peter Kontos handed Green an 18-year-to-life prison term. He's been serving it at Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima.
Becker wrote that Green in prison has been caught with weapons, fought correction officers along with other inmates "and in general, not changed his violent behavior," Becker noted.
"The defendant has clearly demonstrated he cannot control his behavior. ... He is certainly not suitable for parole," Becker wrote. "Balancing the public safety and this defendants' rehabilitation, it is clear that scales tip overwhelmingly in favor of (Green's) continued incarceration."