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reprint or license thisEmotions flow at Springfield killer's hearing
Ohio plans execution of Glenn L. Benner II for killing two women and raping three others
By Stephanie Warsmith
COLUMBUS - Rodney Bowser fought to compose himself as he talked Tuesday about his ``baby sister'' Trina, one of two young women Glenn L. Benner II murdered nearly 20 years ago.
His voice broke. He took deep breaths. He paused in mid-sentence.
``I have an image of my sister that has been permanently burned into my brain,'' said Bowser, who, along with his parents, found Trina's partially clothed body in the trunk of her burning car in January 1986.
Bowser stopped again, staring at the typewritten sheet before him.
``I'm done. I'm sorry,'' he said, throwing the paper on the desk in front of him, sobs wracking his body.
Bowser was one of six people who spoke against Benner during an emotional, hourlong clemency hearing Tuesday in Columbus. It was obvious the passing of nearly two decades hasn't eased the pain of the family of Trina Bowser and Cynthia Sedgwick, the two Northeast Ohio women Benner was convicted of raping and murdering during a five-month period in 1985 and 1986.
Benner, now 43, who grew up in Springfield Township, was sentenced to death for raping and murdering Bowser, 21, of Tallmadge, and Sedgwick, 26, of Cleveland Heights. He was also convicted of attacking three other women.
Family members said they want Benner to be executed. He was called an ``angel of Satan'' Tuesday.
``Give us physical relief to the mental anguish that will live with us forever,'' said James Sedgwick, Cynthia's father, who mentioned in a letter to the Ohio Parole Board that his daughter had to have a closed casket because her body -- found in the woods near Blossom Music Center in August 1985 -- was so severely decomposed.
Sedgwick wrote that he wanted a lock of his daughter's hair, but the undertaker told him there wasn't any.
Execution Feb. 7
Benner waived the clemency hearing but the state was required to conduct it anyway. He is to die by lethal injection on Feb. 7.
The board is expected to submit its report to Gov. Bob Taft on Monday.
Taft has given only one death-row inmate clemency during his seven years in office. That inmate's sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Phil Bogdanoff, an assistant Summit County prosecutor, called Benner a serial rapist and serial killer.
``The defendant killed for one reason: He did not want to get caught,'' Bogdanoff said. ``He wanted to continue to rape and kill.''
Bogdanoff said there is no doubt of Benner's guilt. DNA testing done in July 2003 positively identified Benner as Bowser's killer and rapist.
Bogdanoff complained because Benner's appeals have gone on for so long. He said Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Judith Bandy and several judges involved with Benner's case are now dead.
``There's something wrong with a judicial system when the prosecutors and judges are deceased before their sentence is carried out,'' he said.
Assistant Attorney General Michael Collyer said Benner has a below-average IQ -- not low enough, though, that he would be considered mentally retarded. He said a neurologist tested Benner and found that he had no brain abnormalities.
``Compared to other prison inmates, he's not in the ballpark for receiving clemency,'' Collyer said.
During the testimony, Sandra Mack, a member of the Ohio Parole Board that conducted the clemency hearing, said she saw no reason Benner should be spared from execution.
``To me, this just boils down to pure evil,'' she said.
Nephew speaks out
Scott Bowser, Trina's nephew, showed a PowerPoint presentation with pictures and information about his aunt's life. He talked about how she was a good student, dreamed of being a teacher and took time to mow the grass for an elderly neighbor. His voice cracked as he named her nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews -- many of whom Trina never met.
``As you can see, Trina was a beautiful person,'' said Bowser, who was 7 when his aunt was killed. ``The kind of person who would gladly put herself before others. The kind of person who family members would gladly call daughter, sister, niece, aunt and friend.''
During this presentation, Rodney Bowser sat a few chairs away, plugging his ears with his fingers and staring at the desk in front of him. Several other family members, who took up half of the hearing room, wiped tears from their cheeks or blew their noses.
One of Benner's surviving victims, whom he repeatedly raped in September 1985 after breaking into her Goodyear Heights home, attended the hearing but did not testify.
Several dozen people wrote letters to the state in the past few weeks, urging that Benner be denied clemency. The list included Tallmadge Police Chief John Kafka, who helped investigate Benner's crimes.
``I can think of no more fitting end than his own demise,'' wrote Kafka, who requested to witness Benner's execution. ``My only regret is the manner of his execution. He warrants a much more terrifying death. He certainly provided this to his victims 20 years ago.''
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com
