COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A condemned inmate is seeking mercy ahead of his scheduled execution next month for the 1997 killing a woman who was stabbed more than 100 times, then had her hands cut off.
Brett Hartman came within about a week of being executed in 2009 before a federal appeals court allowed him to pursue an innocence claim.
The 38-year-old Hartman got a new execution date last year, then won a reprieve when the governor postponed it because of a federal court case over the state's execution policy.
Hartman's attorneys told the Ohio Parole Board Wednesday that some evidence at the scene had not been tested and could show that someone else committed the crime.
The board has denied two prior requests for mercy, citing the "overwhelming evidence" of Hartman's guilt.
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