This week in 2005

“A life for a life, let it be done and justice will be served.”

— Herman Ashworth, convicted of murder, Ohio.
Executed September 27, 2005

A deputy coroner said the injuries Daniel Baker incurred during his beating from Ashworth were similar to those of a high-speed traffic accident or a plane crash. Ashworth beat Baker with his fists and a six-foot board, took forty dollars off the unconscious man, left to go to another bar, but then returned to kill Baker to avoid identification. Ashworth claimed Baker had made a pass at him and he “freaked out.” He pleaded guilty to the charge, offering no mitigating evidence or appeals, and did not ask for clemency.