USA - Ohio. The Ohio Parole Board recommended 8-0 that Gov. Ted Strickland spare Jeffrey Hill

The Ohio Parole Board recommended 8-0 that Gov. Ted Strickland spare Jeffrey Hill. Hill killed his mother in 1991 in a crack-cocaine induced rage. The board recommends that Strickland commute Hill’s sentence to life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years. Hill is scheduled to be executed March 3 for killing Emma Hill during a robbery that netted $100. Her surviving brothers and sisters oppose Hill’s execution, as did Emma Hill’s mother. The board's recommendation was the first unanimous decision in favor of clemency for a death row inmate since the state resumed executions in 1999. It's also the 1st time the board recommended an alternative sentence of less than life without the possibility of parole for a condemned killer. Strickland commuted the death sentence of death row inmate John Spirko last year (see Jan. 10, 2008). Strickland has allowed four other executions to proceed. The state has executed 28 men since 1999.