Ohio executes one-time neo-Nazi who killed 3

Published 7:28 pm Thursday, February 17, 2011

Ohio has executed a one-time neo-Nazi who shot to death two men and a teen more than a quarter century ago on the campus of Cleveland State University in a shooting spree that targeted blacks.

Frank Spisak was pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m. Thursday following an injection of sodium thiopental at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

The 59-year-old Spisak set the Ohio record for the longest time on death row before execution, at more than 27 years.

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He was also the last Ohio inmate to die by sodium thiopental, the scarce drug the state is giving up in favor of a more readily available substitute.

Spisak blamed the 1982 shootings on his hatred of gays, blacks and Jews and on his mental illness related to confusion about his sexual identity.