COLUMBUS, Ohio — A condemned inmate who raped and killed a pregnant woman nearly 25 years ago and faces execution next month by a never-tried method of lethal injection does not deserve mercy, the state parole board said Friday.
The board’s recommendation followed arguments by lawyers for Dennis McGuire that he be spared execution because of his abusive childhood and the failure of his original attorneys to work hard enough on his behalf.
In its ruling, the board criticized McGuire’s attempts over the years to evade responsibility, and said a recent letter he sent Governor John Kasich describing the slaying as a lovers’ quarrel gone wrong was ‘‘disingenuous.’’
It also questioned his claims of childhood abuse and instead focused on the brutality of Joy Stewart’s stabbing death.
McGuire’s lead attorney, Rob K. Lowe, said in an e-mail Friday that McGuire still holds out hope the governor will reject the parole board’s recommendation and commute his sentence to life in prison.