SERIAL KILLER GIUSTIZIATO IN OHIO 

NEW YORK, 26 APR - Un serial killer che 18 anni fa si lascio' alle spalle otto vittime durante una caccia all'uomo in tutti gli Usa durata 54 giorni, e' stato giustiziato in un carcere dell'Ohio. Alton Coleman, un nero di 46 anni, e' morto oggi per un'iniezione letale alle 10:13 locali (le 16:13 in Italia) nel carcere di Lucasville.

Coleman e la sua complice, Debra Brown, terrorizzarono nel 1984 sei stati e costrinsero l'Fbi ad una lunga caccia per catturarli, durante la quale la coppia rapi', picchio', violento' numerose persone, uccidendone complessivamente otto.

Coleman e Brown alla fine furono catturati nei pressi di Chicago ed oltre che in Ohio erano stati condannati a morte anche da tribunali in Illinois e Indiana. Coleman racconto' in seguito che l'unico movente delle sue azioni era la necessita' di denaro per acquistare droga.

Visto l'alto numero di parenti e familiari delle vittime che avevano diritto ad assistere all'esecuzione, le autorita' dell' Ohio hanno realizzato una ripresa televisiva a circuito chiuso dell'esecuzione e l'hanno trasmessa in una sala vicina alla camera della morte.

Coleman, prima di morire, ha ordinato ieri sera una cena a base di filet mignon e pollo ed ha trascorso la notte guardando videocassette religiose e meditando. Brown sta scontando l' ergastolo in un altro carcere dell'Ohio.

Crime spree, executed in Ohio

By JOHN McCARTHY

LUCASVILLE, Ohio  _ Alton Coleman, who was sentenced to death in three U.S. states for a 1984 crime spree, was executed by injection Friday as one of the people he attacked looked on. 

Coleman, 46, was put to death at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility for beating Marlene Walters to death in her home in the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood.

Walters' husband, Harry, was among the witnesses who watched in person; others watched on a television hookup.

He was beaten so severely that a sliver of bone was driven into his brain, leaving him permanently disabled.

Family members later issued a statement saying they hoped the execution would finally bring them some peace.

When Coleman was asked if he had a final statement, he began to recite the 23rd Psalm, saying, <The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He leadeth me to green pastures.> As he repeated it, the warden pulled the microphone away from him and Coleman could be seen speaking until he lost consciousness.

Coleman was the only person currently under a death sentence in three states: Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

He was suspected in as many as eight deaths, plus numerous robberies, rapes and kidnappings during the five-state spree with his girlfriend, Debra Denise Brown.

Because of the number of victims, Ohio prison officials decided for the first time to televise an execution via closed circuit to another prison room to accommodate additional witnesses.

Coleman's lawyers say he was abused as a child and his brain was affected by his mother's use of drugs and alcohol while pregnant. Police and  prosecutors, though, saw Coleman as a charismatic man who charmed his way into his victims' lives.

Marlene Walters, 44, had just served lemonade to Coleman and Brown when she was attacked. He and Brown had said they wanted to buy the Walters' camper.

Coleman fought his execution through state and federal appeals courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that he had ineffective counsel in the Walters' trial and that the state should not be allowed to telecast the execution.

Gov. Bob Taft denied clemency, as he did in Ohio's three previous executions.

Coleman and Brown also were sentenced to die for the torture and slaying of Tonnie Storey, 15, of Cincinnati two days before the Walters attack.

 In Illinois, Coleman was sentenced to death for strangling 9-year-old Vernita Wheat, whose body was found in his hometown of Waukegan. In Indiana, he was sentenced to death for stomping and strangling 7-year-old Tamika Turks of Gary. Tamika's 9-year-old aunt was also attacked but survived.