Execution Today

(Lucasville, Ohio) Richard Cooey, 41, is scheduled to be executed today for the murders of two young women in 1986. Cooey was convicted of sexually assaulting and killing two University of Akron students, Dawn McCreery, 20, and Wendy Offredo, 21.

Prosecutors said Cooey and Clinton Dickens disabled the victims' car with a chunk of concrete thrown from an overpass and then offered to help them. Instead, they took the women to a secluded spot where they sexually assaulted, stabbed and bludgeoned them, and carved the letter "X" into their stomachs.

Since Dickens was 17 years old at the time of the crimes, he was sentenced to life in prison after conviction. Cooey, 19 at the time of the crimes, wasn’t so lucky.

The Cooey case has had some twists and turns during the appeal process. Some may recall that Cooey, 5’7” and 267 lbs., wanted the death penalty considered inhumane for a fat guy since his veins would be hard to find. The courts didn’t buy his complaint.

One other appeal remains to be decided. Cooey claims that the use of a three-drug combination in executions is inhumane and he wants only one drug used in executing him.

So, unless there are new circumstances presented today, Cooey dies on 10/14/08.