William Wickline was executed by the State of Ohio for the murders of a couple
According to court documents William Wickline would have an argument with Peggy and Christopher Lerch that escalated out of control. Christopher Lerch would be stabbed repeated and had his throat slit. Peggy Lerch would be strangled. Wickline would dismember the bodies and spread them out out around the city
William Wickline was also accused of the murder of Charles Morgan Marsh in West Virginia however was never charged
William Wickline was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
William Wickline would be executed by lethal injection on March 30 2004
William Wickline Photos
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When Was William Wickline Executed
William Wickline was executed on March 30 2004
William Wickline Case
A man was executed Tuesday for strangling an unconscious woman with a rope in 1982 after slitting her husband’s throat over a $6,000 drug debt. The only witness said the former prison slaughterhouse worker cut up the bodies, which were never found. William D. Wickline, 52, was the 11th inmate to die by injection since Ohio resumed executions in 1999. He was pronounced dead at 10:11 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
“Carrying out the death sentence today in the case of William Wickline is a fundamental duty that the State of Ohio undertakes with the utmost gravity,” Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro said in a release. “The obligation is fulfilled only after careful consideration and an extensive review of the case to ensure the verdict and sentence are within the bounds of law. In this matter, Mr. Wickline’s case was reviewed by state and federal courts, and at every level was found to be a fair and just result.” Wickline’s final statement was, “May tomorrow see the courts shaped by more wisdom and less politics.”
Wickline slept about five hours Monday night and visited with his brothers early Tuesday, said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the state prison system. She said Wickline showered and shaved, and had two cups of coffee and Rice Krispies cereal. He then read the Bible and prayed.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block Wickline’s execution. His attorneys argued that his trial lawyers did not try to seek information that could persuade judges to impose life imprisonment instead of death. The appeal was based on a Supreme Court decision last year saying defense attorneys don’t need their client’s cooperation to conduct such investigations. The court turned down Wickline’s appeal without comment.
A three-judge panel in 1985 convicted Wickline of killing Christopher and Peggy Lerch (pictured, right) in his Columbus apartment. The Franklin County Common Pleas judges sentenced him to life in prison for Christopher Lerch’s murder and to death for the slaying of Mrs. Lerch because she was killed to cover up another crime.
The couple, from Blendon Township north of Columbus, was last seen in August 1982. Their bodies were never found. Peggy Lerch’s sister, Nancy Fowler, silently held a photo toward the window into the death chamber throughout as soon as he walked in, lowering it only after a corrections officer closed the curtain. The photograph was not visible from behind. Wickline never looked in her direction, instead smiling and giving a thumbs up to his two younger brothers, Robert and David. The witnesses were silent, except for occasional sniffling, for the entire 20 minutes they were in the chamber.
Wickline denied killing the couple, portraying the primary witness against him as a jealous, spurned lover who invented a tale to keep custody of her then-infant son after admitting drug use to authorities. Wickline’s former girlfriend testified he used a saw to butcher the bodies and had a friend help him throw the bagged parts in trash bins around Columbus. Teresa Kemp’s story matched that of informants who didn’t testify, including Wickline’s former common-law wife and a roommate, police records show.
The physical evidence backing her story included bloody tub caulk and dried human tissue on a folding saw, but Wickline’s attorneys argued that Kemp had possession of the evidence while he was in prison on a burglary conviction.
Kemp testified that the four spent nearly two days on an August 1982 weekend drinking, using cocaine and other drugs. The party moved from the Lerches’ house to Wickline’s apartment when a violent argument started over money. She said the argument seemed over when Wickline called Chris Lerch to the upstairs bathroom, slit his throat, then came downstairs and made Kemp lie across Mrs. Lerch’s legs while he strangled her. The next time Kemp went upstairs, Wickline was in the bathroom holding the severed head of Chris Lerch.
Kemp was never charged because she didn’t participate in killing Chris Lerch, didn’t do much to help kill Mrs. Lerch and prosecutors couldn’t find evidence of intent to kill, said Pat Sheeran, an assistant county prosecutor who helped try the case.
In Wickline’s motion to stop the execution, lawyer David Stebbins argued that Wickline’s lawyers did not present evidence of Wickline’s history during the penalty phase of his trial in an attempt to avoid a death sentence. However, the state argued that Wickline was deeply involved in his case, said Kim Norris, a spokeswoman for Petro. “He clearly was directing and in control of his defense,” she said. A message seeking comment was left for Stebbins.
Wickline was moved from death row at the Mansfield Correctional Institution on Monday morning. He spent most of the day talking on the phone to his brother, David Wickline of Columbus, or chatting with members of the execution team, prisons spokeswoman Andrea Dean said. Dean said that about 4 p.m., Wickline was served his “special meal” of an eight-ounce filet mignon, medium rare; potato salad; six rolls with butter; fresh strawberries with shortcake; and butter pecan ice cream. The steak came from the prison kitchen. The other ingredients were bought at a local store for $11.66. He also received four packs of Pall Mall cigarettes and six cans of pop, including three of Mountain Dew.
Wickline met with a spiritual adviser, Rev. Gary Sims, a Baptist minister who is the prisons department’s religious services administrator. He was laughing as he visited later Monday with brothers David and Robert, who planned to witness the execution, Dean said. After his brothers left, he continued to talk and laugh on the phone with family and friends.
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