Mink to die July 20 for killing his parents


Scott A. Mink will have his desired date with Ohio's death chamber July
20. The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to reconsider its
unanimous decision to uphold his death penalty sentence in the beating and
stabbing deaths of his parents in Union.

Mink, 39, will be the 13th person, and the 1st from Montgomery County, to
be executed since Ohio's death penalty law was reinstated Oct. 19, 1981.
The last Montgomery County convict executed was Eugene Harris on Oct. 23,
1940.

Mink's case was accelerated because Mink announced 3 years ago that he
wished to be executed.

Gary Crimm, one of two court-appointed attorneys assigned to pursue Mink's
nonrevocable right to appeal his case, said Wednesday that no other
appeals are slated and Mink has not authorized more work on his behalf.

On April 14, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld Mink's conviction in the Sept.
19, 2000, killings of William and Sheila Mink, 79 and 72, as they slept in
the upper-floor duplex at 108 1/2 N. Main St. in Union.

Mink, a crack-addicted alcoholic who lived with his parents, claimed to
police that he "snapped" after discovering they had hidden his car keys.

After selling or giving away many of his dead parents' belongings to buy
drugs, beer, cigarettes and food, Mink surrendered three days after the
slayings at the City police station.

In April 2001, Mink announced in court that he wanted to be executed for
killing his parents. His attorneys explained that he did not consider his
decision to be suicide, and his religious beliefs instructed him that, if
he committed suicide, he could not go to heaven and he could not be
forgiven. Acting as his own counsel, Mink pleaded guilty to the charges
against him.

On June 20, 2001, a 3-judge panel sentenced Mink to death.

(source: Dayton Daily News)