Man convicted of murdering Warren couple wants death sentence thrown out
A man who has been on Ohio's Death Row for thirty years for murdering an elderly couple in their Warren home has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to vacate his death sentence. Charles Lorraine was sentenced to die for the 1986 stabbing deaths of 80-year-old Doris Montgomery and her 77-year-old husband Raymond. He was convicted on two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of burglary, two counts of complicity to commit burglary, and one count of robbery.
A man who has been on Ohio's Death Row for thirty years for murdering an elderly couple in their Warren home has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to vacate his death sentence.
Charles Lorraine was sentenced to die for the 1986 stabbing deaths of 80-year-old Doris Montgomery and her 77-year-old husband Raymond.
He was convicted on two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of burglary, two counts of complicity to commit burglary, and one count of robbery.
The last execution date for Lorraine was set in 2012.
Even after state officials said that Lorraine had exhausted all appeals and Governor John Kasich refused to grant clemency, a federal judge stopped the execution, saying Ohio had failed to follow its own rules for executions.
Lorraine's attorney has now filed a motion with the Ohio Supreme Court citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down last year ruling that a jury must evaluate and weigh all factors required by law to impose the death penalty.
The motion says that an earlier ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court found errors in the sentencing phase of Lorraine's case, and argues that the matter should be sent back to the trial court in Trumbull County for re-sentencing.
The Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office has yet to file a response to the motion.
Background
According to court records, the Montgomerys had been friendly and generous to Lorraine in the past and they had hired him to perform tasks around their home.
On May 6, 1986, investigators say Lorraine got Raymond Montgomery to go to the second floor of his home on the pretense that he had forgotten an item.
Upon entering the room, Lorraine, while wearing rubber gloves, stabbed Montgomery five times with a butcher knife.
After killing the husband, police say Lorraine returned to the first floor, where Mrs. Montgomery was confined to bed, and stabbed her nine times.
He then burglarized the residence.
Showing no remorse, Lorraine went to a bar and bought drinks with the stolen money, according to court documents.
He and a friend returned to the Montgomerys' home to steal again.
