COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court has declined jurisdiction in the latest failed appeal from Donna Roberts, the Warren woman convicted and sentenced to die for the 2001 murder-for-hire of her former husband Robert Fingerhut at the couple’s home in Howland.

Roberts is the only woman on Ohio’s Death Row. Her execution remains on hold.

Attorney David Doughten, who represented Roberts, told 21 News Tuesday he was “not surprised” by the court’s decision and expects Roberts to appeal next to the Northern Ohio U.S. District Court in Cleveland. “She has one year from the date (of the Ohio Supreme Court decision) to file,” Doughten said.

The Cleveland-based attorney said he would not be representing Roberts in her next appeal and expects a federal public defender to take the case.

Roberts, now 75, had been convicted along with Nathaniel Jackson who shot the 57-year-old Fingerhut to death two days after Jackson was released from prison.

Investigators said Roberts hoped to collect insurance money for Fingerhut’s death.

Jackson was also sentenced to die for the killing.

He, too, remains on Ohio’s Death Row.

Doughten told 21 News he believes the controversy over lethal injection along with continuation of the legal process will likely delay a rescheduled execution date.

“I doubt(authorities) will ask for one,” he said. “They’re not asking for dates now because there is a problem with lethal injection procedure and my guess is they’ll hold off until they see what happens.”

Prior to the latest delays, Roberts had been scheduled to be executed last August.

One of Roberts’ appeals went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2018 declined to hear the case.