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A man who shot at a cop who was responding to a domestic …
This undated photo released by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections shows Frederick Treesh. (AP Photo/Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections)
A former University of Saint Francis athlete has been sentenced…
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Ohio executes Waterloo, Indiana man
The killer issued a statement before the execution
Updated: Thursday, 07 Mar 2013, 10:46 AM EST
Published : Wednesday, 06 Mar 2013, 7:12 AM EST
LUCASVILLE, Ohio (WANE) - A man from Waterloo, Indiana who had been on death row for 18 years after going on a multi-state crime spree died by lethal injection at 10:37 Wednesday morning. Frederick Treesh was executed inside the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio.
Treesh, in a last statement, apologized for the death of security guard Henry Dupree who was shot dead during the robbery of an Eastlake, Ohio adult book store in August of 1994, but said he wouldn't say he was sorry to family members of a video store clerk killed in Michigan who were witnessing the execution.
He was the 50th inmate put to death by the state since it resumed executions in 1999.
Treesh was sentenced to die for killing Dupree. The state parole board voted against Treesh getting clemency. Gov. John Kasich denied his request for mercy.
Last Statement of Frederick Treesh
Yes, I would like to thank Karen Hensel for following up on a job after 20 years. This is where drugs lead you. This is true life. I wanted her to take a picture of the execution. You can't, but I'm sure you can go to the morgue and take a picture. I'm not here to say I'm sorry to any of the victims that are here. I've never been tried, never been charged with that crime. I'm here for Henry Dupree and I'm sorry. I'd like to apologize to their family for what I've done.
You want closure? Closure only comes with a book. You close it and put it on the shelf. There is no closure. Every holiday, every birthday, you will think about the victim. So if you want me murdered, just say it. I'd also like to thank the Major at SOCF for being such a wonderful person and the execution team. They treated me very well. I also want to thank Mike Benza and y best friend James Goff. That's it.
The following is a timeline of events leading up to the execution:
Treesh arrived at the facility at 10:06 a.m. Tuesday.
He ate lunch consisting of a hamburger patty, carrots, and a potato.
From 1:14 p.m. - 3:31 p.m. he slept.
Later in the afternoon, he took a call from his daughter Tabatha and after that met with his spiritual advisors.
7:29 p.m.: Authorities ended any visits for Treesh.
7:54 p.m. Officials conducted the first vein assessment, part of the procedure leading up to the lethal injection.
Special meal requested for dinner
- 32 oz porterhouse steak with mushrooms and eggs
- hash browns
- cottage cheese
- onion rings
- hot fudge sundae
- coca cola
- root beer
(Ate most of onion rings and only half of sundae.)
8:45 p.m. to 11:21 p.m.: Treesh talked on the phone with inmate James Goff who is a father figure to him. Goff is being held at the Chillicothe Correctional Facility.
12:23 a.m. Wednesday - 1:22 a.m.: He talked on the phone with a friend from Fort Wayne, Kay Beard.
2:05 a.m. - 2:31 a.m.: Treesh slept.
Treesh refused breakfast Wednesday morning but had milk and orange juice.
6:14 a.m. - 6:31 a.m.: He spoke with his father, Robert Treesh, on the phone and got emotional. After the call, he met with his attorney.
8 a.m.: Treesh met with a spiritual leader and got emotional and tearful
8:45 a.m.: He requested and ate the rest of his ice cream sundae
10 a.m.: Treesh is brought to the death house and the lethal injection process is begun.
10:37 a.m.: Treesh is declared dead.
Daughter speaks
After Treesh was found guilty of killing Dupree, Treesh told NewsChannel 15 he blames his actions on his crack cocaine addiction.
Tuesday morning Treesh's daughter, Tabatha, sent NewsChannel 15's Megan Reust a letter talking about her father's execution.
"What people need to realize is my Dad did not set out to kill anyone. He was supporting a $1,000 a day crack cocaine habbit. Drugs like that force good people to do terrible things they cannot change no matter how remorseful they are.
My Dad shot a man because of his addiction. He may be sorry, but he cannot change it.
I do not believe that the death penalty is the answer but society does. I believe everyone makes mistakes in life, but that doesn't mean that they have to pay for them the rest of their lives. Sometimes good people make bad choices but that doesn't mean that they are bad people." - Tabatha, Fred Treesh's daughter
Daughter's thoughts about the execution
"Tomorrow (Wednesday, execution day) will be the worst day of my life. Today we will have to say goodbye for the last time. Tomorrow will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to face knowing that I got to talk to him the last three days was amazing but unable to shove 20 years into phone calls was impossible to do. I couldn't address how sorry I was and that I loved him. Hearing him telling me the advice and tools I needed to do for his grandkids and rest of family was hard to pass messages to some but had to be done.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, March 6, 2013) my Dad will be free. My dad was a good guy. Also just remember with my dad he showed by admitting what he did was wrong and he did was wrong and is very regretful of his
actions and yet willing to take the punishment for it that really takes a heart. I want to tell others that the man that did this major mistake it was not him who committed the crime it was the crack cocaine. He will ALWAYS be with me through my sobriety walk, looking down on me! We love you! Love you Dad." - Tabatha, Fred Treesh's daughter
The following is an AP article written by Andrew Welsh-Huggins filed Wednesday morning:
LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A man who fatally shot an adult bookstore security guard in 1994 at the end of a multistate crime spree was executed on Wednesday.
Frederick Treesh received a single powerful dose of pentobarbital and was pronounced dead at 10:37 by Donald Morgan, warden of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.
Treesh was sentenced to die for killing Henry Dupree in Eastlake east of Cleveland on Aug. 27, 1994.
Treesh, in a last statement, apologized for the death of Dupree, but said he wouldn't say he was sorry to family members of a video store clerk killed in Michigan who were witnessing the execution.
"I've never been tried, I've never been charged," he said.
After a few more comments he said, "If you want me murdered, just say it."
Treesh was the 50th inmate put to death by the state since it resumed executions in 1999.
Gov. John Kasich denied Treesh clemency last week, following the recommendation of the state parole board, which ruled unanimously last month that the evidence showed Dupree was seated when shot and hadn't shown any sign of being a threat to Treesh. The board also said Treesh's decision to shoot a clerk in the face as he left the store suggests Treesh's "murderous intent" when coming to the store.
Treesh and his co-defendant "gratuitously brutalized, humiliated and killed innocent people, most of whom, like Dupree, posed no real or perceived threat to them," the board said.
Prosecutors say Treesh, 48, and the co-defendant robbed banks and businesses, committed sexual assaults, stole cars, committed carjackings and shot someone to death in a Michigan robbery during a spree that also took them to Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Treesh's attorneys described him as a cocaine addict who was high during the robbery and is deeply sorry for what happened.
"Hindsight, regret and remorse cannot turn back the clock and cannot return Mr. Dupree's life," they said in a petition for clemency. "What Fred can do and has tried to do is to help prevent others from making the same mistakes he did" by teaching them to avoid drugs.
His lawyers also alleged Treesh's rights were violated during a prolonged interrogation as he was coming down from a drug high, which contributed to his death sentence. They also say Treesh suffers from health problems, including a seizure disorder, that raise concerns Ohio's lethal injection process would cause him suffering amounting to cruel and unusual punishment.
Prosecutors contend Treesh intentionally murdered Dupree and tried to kill others, including police officers in pursuit.
"Treesh has never taken responsibility for his actions," Lake County prosecutor Charles Coulson wrote. "Treesh still claims 'the cocaine made him do it.'"
Coulson also noted that courts previously determined Treesh's constitutional rights weren't violated.
Treesh declined to be interviewed by the parole board.
The parole board cited Treesh's refusal to be interviewed as evidence he has not grown or improved as a person in prison.
Treesh's prison behavior is indicative of "a self-indulgent, petulant and immature individual," the board said.
He was never prosecuted for the crimes in the other states, according to the Ohio Attorney General's office.
Ohio's most recent execution was in November, when the state put to death Brett Hartman for the 1997 stabbing and dismemberment of an Akron woman.
___
Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.
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