Obese Death Row Inmate Claims Innocence; Says Weight Will Cause More Pain During Execution
It's pretty common for prison inmates to claim their innocence, but one condemned killer in Ohio is pleading in an effort to hold off his impending execution.
Ronald Post has entered the public's attention partly for his claim that he isn't a murderer, but more for his size as he weighs over 400 pounds, according to the Huffington Post.
Post is asking the court to delay his January execution and says that he wants to try and prove that he didn't make a full confession to police during his trial.
The obese inmate also said that he fears that his hefty size could make him suffer additional pain when he goes through the execution.
Post was convicted of fatally shooting hotel desk clerk Helen Vantz in 1983. The incident occurred in Elyira, Ohio and the inmate says that it was another man who shot Vantz to death.
The condemned killer filed a plea with the Ohio Parole Board on Nov. 20 with his claim of innocence and his plea for leniency.
According to Dennis Will, a prosecutor for Lorain County, Post claimed that while he was in fact "complicit in the robbery" he did not actually enter the hotel, according to reporting from The Associated Press.
Post is having a hard time backing up his claims as no evidence has been shown to support his case.
After he was arrested, Post pleaded no contest in 1984 to the murder charge.
The prosecutor wrote in a statement that the Ohio Parole Board "should consider Post's written admission, made in open court almost 30 years ago, that he, and he alone, was responsible for the crimes against Helen Vantz."
The parole hearing for Post is scheduled to take place on Dec. 6, but a Cleveland judge has already rejected the inmate's obesity claim.
