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WARREN -- This fall, the Ohio Parole Board will decide whether a pair of convicted murderers -- Gary Allen Betz and Sheldon Jackson -- will be released as the men have hearings in October.
Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins expressed his opposition in a news release, stating the men were "too vicious, bad, and dangerous" to roam the streets of any community.
Watkins also advocated for changes to Ohio law that affords more rights to victims during parole hearings and calls for changes to public access of inmate information.
GARY ALLEN BETZ
Betz, 68, who is housed in Marion Correctional Institution, is eyeing his fourth chance at release.
He was convicted by a Trumbull County jury and given a 15-years-to-life sentence for the shotgun shooting death of Lake Milton tavern owner Ron Gouche in 1976. Watkins noted that Betz was paroled twice before Gouche's killing.
Betz robbed Gouche of $138 in bar receipts after the shooting.
After spending 30 years in state prison, Betz was paroled again in 2007 despite strong opposition from the victim's family and the prosecutor's office. The criminal streak of Betz continued as he landed himself in more trouble. Watkins wrote that Betz received a DUI charge in violation of his parole in Minerva and Carrollton in 2008 and 2010. He returned to prison following those incidents.
In a previous letter protesting his release, Watkins called Betz's crime "one of the worst of the worst cold-blooded premeditated murders of a helpless person one person could envision."
SHELDON JACKSON
Ten years ago, the now 52-year-old Jackson was denied for a third time to be released from his life sentence behind the walls of Grafton Correctional Institution in Lorain County. As a fourth chance looms in October, the man Watkins labeled a "sociopath" again will plead his case.
Jackson was sentenced to a 20-years-to-life prison sentence for the 1994 murder of 78-year-old Theodore Emerson in a Warren neighborhood.
The elderly man was inside his home on Jefferson Street NW when Jackson and his two co-defendants forced their way into the residence and knocked the man into the basement.
Jackson, followed by another man, continued their assault on Emerson, kicking and punching him before Jackson plunged a screwdriver in the man's neck. Afterward, the assault continued as Emerson eventually succumbed to his injuries.
At the same time, a third man was upstairs when he beat and stabbed 74-year-old Kathryn Emerson. About $46 and personal items were stolen during the invasion.
For four months after the assault on the Emersons in their own home, Kathryn Emerson remained hospitalized and died shortly after.
Two teenagers were convicted as co-defendants in the case, including one who remains behind bars.
A three-judge panel sentenced Jackson for the aggravated murder of Theodore Emerson but could have opted for a 30-years-to-life sentence.
He also was sentenced to concurrent prison terms for the attempted murder of Emerson's wife; the burglary of their home; the robbery of Emerson and the unrelated robbery of Ralph Boyle, which occurred earlier the same evening.
Jackson, who was 22 years old, pleaded guilty to the indictment to keep the death penalty off the table. The case qualified for the death penalty because it involved a murder performed along with another felony crime.
OHIO LAW CHANGES
Watkins has proposed making changes to Marsy's Law, a section of Ohio's Constitution that outlines victims rights throughout the criminal process. Among its provisions, the law gives victims the right to be present and heard at court hearings and be informed of an offender's potential release.
Changes proposed by Watkins would be to expand the rights to victims during parole board hearings and extend the amount of time between each parole hearing for a murderer or sex offender.
"We believe special or unique circumstances in these violent acts justify longer extensions," Watkins said. "Victims are now being revictimized by having too many parole board hearings involving dangerous offenders."
He also is recommending changes to public record laws, which would call for increasing the public's access to inmate information.