Earlier this year, Tyrone Noling—an innocent man who has spent more than 30 years on death row for a crime that he did not commit—applied for a total pardon from the Governor of Ohio. The State of Ohio has taken an important step forward in the case by granting him a hearing on that application before the Parole Board on August 18.
Mr. Noling was sentenced to death in 1996 for a crime he did not commit and had nothing to do with, the tragic murders of an elderly couple in rural Ohio. No physical evidence tied him to the crime, and no murder weapon was ever found. A weapon Mr. Noling possessed was instead promptly ruled out. The State’s case rested on coerced statements from his young friends and alleged accomplices—all of whom have since recanted their statements implicating Mr. Noling and themselves in the crime.
Since Mr. Noling’s conviction, significant evidence has emerged pointing away from him and toward other suspects. Those suspects include Dan Wilson, a convicted killer who reportedly confessed to the crime and was later executed by the State of Ohio for another crime, and another suspect who secretly disposed of the same type of gun used in the murders under suspicious circumstances and instead provided police with a gun that he had borrowed and knew would be cleared. Critical evidence connecting these other suspects to the murders was never turned over by the prosecution.
Various individuals whose actions originally led to Mr. Noling’s conviction now say Mr. Noling should be released. One of the jurors who voted to convict Mr. Noling has said that, after seeing the evidence that has come out since the trial, she believes he is innocent. The former Sheriff of Portage County, who was one of the officers at the scene of the crime and whose office initially investigated the crime, believes Mr. Noling should be released.
The injustice of continuing to imprison Mr. Noling has also drawn national outcry. His supporters range from prominent media figures like Kim Kardashian and actress Hilarie Burton Morgan, to legal experts like former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Donnelly.
Governor DeWine, a former prosecutor and former Ohio attorney general, has long spoken about the need for public trust in Ohio’s criminal justice system. He has supported post-conviction DNA testing because it can clear people who were wrongly accused. As Governor, he has emphasized transparency, careful evidence handling, law-enforcement accountability, and the public’s confidence in the justice system. And he has recently issued a public statement against the use of the death penalty in Ohio. Now, Mr. Noling’s case gives Governor DeWine a chance to apply those principles where the stakes could not be higher and grant Mr. Noling a full pardon.
Concerned members of the public can, in advance of his August 18 hearing, write to the Ohio Parole Board and call Governor Mike DeWine’s office.
Ohio Parole Board
P.O. Box 430
Columbus, Ohio 43216
Gov. Mike DeWine: (614) 644-4357