Execution date sought for killer of 2 in Toledo
Bryant-Bey
Bryant-Bey, 52, has been on death row for 14 1/2 years since his conviction for the robbery and murder of Dale Pinkelman, who owned Pinky's Collectibles hobby shop in North Toledo.
He also was convicted of the robbery and murder of Peter Mihas, who owned The Board Room restaurant in downtown Toledo.
Bryant-Bey has exhausted the appeals process and remains incarcerated at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined earlier this year to hear his case after a September ruling by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld his November, 1993, conviction for
Mr. Pinkelman's murder.
Last week, the prosecutor's office requested the Ohio Supreme Court issue a death warrant and set a date for his lethal injection, the state's only execution method.
County Prosecutor Julia Bates said that Bryant-Bey has had several execution dates through the years that have come and gone through his appeals.
Richard Kerger, attorney for Bryant-Bey, said yesterday that he does not plan to oppose the prosecution's motion but hopes to stop the execution by other means.
Mr. Kerger said it's his understanding that Bryant-Bey would need an execution date to join an ongoing civil rights lawsuit challenging Ohio's three-drug method of lethal injection as cruel and unusual punishment.
A federal judge in Columbus could then grant an emergency stay delaying Bryant-Bey's execution while the lawsuit sorts itself out.
Mr. Kerger said he is undeterred by the April 16 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a lethal injection process in Kentucky that is similar to the sedate, paralyze, and kill method used in Ohio.
"Some of us believe Ohio's [method] is still deficient," Mr. Kerger said. "Lawsuits have been initiated [in federal court in Columbus] already, and Mr. Bey will be joining them. Hopefully, that will lead to a stay of the execution."
County prosecutors anticipated the move and asked the court in their motion to give Bryant-Bey an execution date regardless because the inmates' civil-rights lawsuit likely would fail.
"There is no reason for this court to delay setting an execution date in this case," the motion states.
Mr. Pinkelman's body was found face down on the floor of his North Towne Square shop in August, 1992. Police, with the help of an informant, connected Bryant-Bey to Mr. Mihas' murder in November, 1992. Bryant-Bey confessed to that murder.
Police noticed striking similarities between the two murders; both men died from a single stab wound in the chest, with their pants removed and their shoes lined up neatly beside their bodies.
Investigators also found Bryant-Bey's match to a palm print in Mr. Pinkelman's shop.
Bryant-Bey initially was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for the Mihas murder, and later unsuccessfully tried to keep evidence from those proceedings from being used during the Pinkelman trial.
In 1993, he was convicted of Mr. Pinkelman's murder and sentenced to death.
Contact JC Reindl at:
jreindl@theblade.com
or 419-724-6065.