William G. Zuern, Jr.

Infobox Criminal


subject_name = William G. Zuern, Jr.
image_size = 200 px
image_caption = Mug shot of William G. Zuern, Jr.
date_of_birth = birth date|1958|12|5
place_of_birth = Ohio, U.S.
date_of_death = death date and age|2004|6|8|1958|12|5
place_of_death = Lucasville, Ohio, U.S.
alias =
conviction = Aggravated murder
penalty = Death sentence
status = Deceased
occupation =
spouse =
parents =
children =

William G. Zuern, Jr. (5 December 1958 - 8 June 2004) was executed by the State of Ohio for the murder of a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy working as a corrections officer in the county jail. Zuern spent 19 years and 7 months on death row fighting his death sentence. His execution fell one day short of the 20th anniversary of the crime for which he was condemned.

In May 1984, Zuern, awaiting trial for the murder of a Cincinnati, was incarcerated at the Community Correctional Institute in Hamilton County, Ohio. In the latter part of that month, Zuern had a conversation with another inmate about the fact that corrections officers failed to give Zuern his full five minutes of telephone time. During the conversation, Zuern expressed general hostility to the officers, saying that "somebody should do something to them sons of bitches". The inmate also had observed Zuern sharpening a straightened portion of a metal bucket hook over the course of three days and informed a corrections officer that Zuern had a knife or a shank.

On 9 June 1984, a second inmate informed a sheriff's deputy that he and Zuern had argued the day before and that Zuern stated he was going to kill him. The inmate also said that Zuern had a homemade knife which he had sharpened on his cell floor. That evening, officers were ordered to search Zuern's cell, among others. Before the officers arrived at Zuern's cell, Zuern received a tip from another inmate that the officers were coming to search his cell.

At approximately 10:20 p.m., Officers Joe Burton and Phillip Pence arrived to perform the search and found Zuern lying naked in his bunk. Officer Pence ordered Zuern to get to his feet. Zuern then stood at the door of the cell. Pence unlocked the cell and told Zuern to come out and put his hands against the wall. Zuern lunged at Pence, fatally stabbing him in the chest with the metal shank. The weapon was a long dagger-like piece of metal, approximately seven inches long. One end was sharpened to a point, and the other was curved into a loop.

ee also

* Capital punishment in Ohio
* Capital punishment in the United States

Resources

* "Ohio v. Zuern", 32 Ohio St. 3d 56, 512 N.E.2d 585 (1987).
* "Zuern v. Tate", 336 F.3d 478 (July 17, 2003)
* "Zuern v. Tate", 101 F. Supp. 2d 948 (S.D. Ohio, 2000)
* [http://www.ag.state.oh.us/le/prosecuting/pubs/ann_rpt_capital_crimes2005.pdf "2005 Capital Crimes Report"] (pdf) Office of the Ohio Attorney General.
* [http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/ Death Penalty Information Centre]
* [http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/zuern913.htm Clark Prosecutor]
* [http://www.ag.state.oh.us/le/prosecuting/capital/detail.asp?id=165 Death Penalty Appeal - Detail] . "Attorney General - State of Ohio". Retrieved on 2007-11-15.