VAN WERT, OH (WLIO) - Evidence in a 40-year-old murder case could be reexamined for possible DNA that could exonerate the person convicted of the crime.
Van Wert County judge Martin Burchfield has ordered that an inventory of the evidence in the case against 78-year-old John Spirko be made by the Van Wert and Hancock County Sheriff's Offices and the United States postal inspectors. The agencies have until the end of January 2025 to comply with his order.
John Spirko Mugshot
Spirko is serving a life sentence for the murder of Betty Jane Mottinger.
In August of 1982, the Elgin Post Office, where she was working, was robbed, and she was killed. In 1984, a jury found Spirko guilty of the murder and kidnapping and sentenced him to death, but that sentence was reduced to life in prison in 2008 by then-governor Ted Strickland.
The ruling says that DNA testing has made leaps and bounds since 2004, when lawyers for Spirko requested evidence testing be done but were denied. The Innocence Project said in a previous court filing that there is strong evidence that other individuals could have been responsible.
