'Mad Hitchhiker' executed; Ohio's 5th lethal injection this year

Ohio executions highest in 61 years

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
5/26/12
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
5/25/12
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
5/25/12
> More headlines

By Tom Beyerlein, Staff Writer Updated 1:59 PM Thursday, May 13, 2010

The state of Ohio executed Michael Beuke today, making him the fifth convicted killer to die by lethal injection so far this year. Beuke is one of 11 convicted killers — one per month from January through November — who has either been executed or is scheduled for execution in Ohio in 2010. That’s by far the most executions in any one year in Ohio since 1949, when 15 men died in the electric chair.

What’s more, Ohio is on track to have far more executions this year than any other state except Texas, which has either carried out or scheduled 17 executions.

“Ohio coming in even a close second is very unusual,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C. “Usually, it’s Texas (first) and nobody else comes close.”

Almost 27 years ago, Michael Beuke, the so-called Mad Hitchhiker of Hamilton County, pumped three bullets into the head and chest of Robert Craig, who had picked Beuke up along Interstate 275. Beuke left Craig’s body in the bushes and stole his car.

On two other occasions, Beuke shot other motorists who picked him up, but they survived.

Beuke, now 48, died by lethal injection at 10:53 a.m. for Craig’s murder at the state prison in Lucasville at 10 a.m. today, May 13. Craig’s widow, Susan, was among the witnesses.

Many of the 160 inmates on Ohio’s death row have simply run out of appeals, but there is a cap on the number of inmates Ohio will execute in a year. The Ohio Supreme Court said last year it would schedule executions at least three weeks apart to allow public defenders time to prepare clemency cases.

As the number of executions is spiking, the number of new death sentences is down, both in Ohio and nationally. Ohio had only one new sentence in 2009, according to the information center.

Dieter said the number of U.S. death sentences has dropped from about 300 in the late 1990s to about 110 in recent years, partly because juries in many states now have the option of recommending a life-without-parole sentence.

Share this article