Ohio death row prisoner Gary Otte, 45, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday
Ohio is preparing to put a condemned killer of two people to death this week as the inmate awaits word on last-minute appeals.
Death row prisoner Gary Otte, 45, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the 1992 killings of Robert Wasikowski and Sharon Kostura, whom he shot during two robberies in the Cleveland suburb of Parma.
The state plans to execute Otte with a lethal combination of three drugs, though a federal court is considering Otte’s argument that the first drug in the process creates an unconstitutional risk of severe harm.
Otte’s murder spree began on February 2, 1992, when Otte asked 61-year-old Wasikowski to use his telephone.
He shot the war veteran in the head and stole $413.
Robert Wasikowski, 61, was Otte’s first victim
The next day, Otte returned to the same apartment complex and forced his way into the home of Kostura, 45.
He shot her in the head and stole $45, her car keys, and her checkbook.
Otte waived his right to a jury trial and was convicted on multiple counts of aggravated murder, robbery and burglary by a three-judge panel.
On Friday, Otte spoke out in a letter published by Splinter News, writing at length about the drug epidemic and calling for a renewal of religion.
‘I was a drug addict. I became addicted to crack cocaine which led to me being in prison for the past twenty five years and on death row,’ he wrote.
‘I took personal responsibility for my life and became accountable for my future actions,’ Otte continued.
‘The fears I once operated from have vanished through my reliance on God for all my support. I am no longer defined by my past failures, but by God’s love.’