Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins has sent a letter to the Ohio Adult Parole Authority opposing the potential parole of a man convicted of premeditated murdering three people nearly 45 years ago.

Watkins described the offender, Richard Clowers, as "sinister to the core." 

In 1978, Clowers premeditatedly murdered five-year-old Dawn Waszo along with her grandparents, 47-year-old William and 44-year-old Janice Brainard.

Watkins says Clowers attempted to bury the victims but was caught in the act by a gas worker who discovered the bodies.

Investigation into these deaths revealed that Clowers awaited William's return home at approximately 10:00 p.m. the night of the murder. It appears that all the victims were abducted by Clowers at gunpoint.

Watkins says Clowers surmised that by hiding the bodies, it would appear that the family went on vacation as previously planned, meaning the bodies wouldn't be discovered for quite some time.

Watkins went on to say that Clowers had told others that he could murder the three victims and get away with it and that "no one will ever find the bodies."

Watkins also says that even after committing his crimes, Clowers would tell people, including his employer, that he was "in trouble" and could possibly go to prison or get the death penalty without revealing any more details.

Watkins says Clowers told his employer that it was the victims' fault that they died and that he wanted to settle a score with them because they "messed up his life so much."

Watkins included a transcript written by Clowers's wife, as well as the mother of Waszo and daughter of William and Janice Brainard, stating that she "fears" her husband and that she believes he wants to kill the rest of the remaining Brainards.

The transcript also reveals that Clowers beat his wife and that the only reason she put up with this treatment was because he would always threaten that he would "get revenge" on her parents and eventually even threaten to kill Waszo.

"I won't do it myself; I'm not stupid. I will hire it done. I know people who will do it so that I won't get in trouble," said Clowers' wife paraphrasing him.

An investigation from Trumbull County Children's Services revealed that Clowers would force Waszo to eat until she vomited and forced her to brush her teeth while striking her head with a blow dryer.

Clowers' wife also revealed that he kept a 22 caliber rifle loaded when he lived with his wife and threatened to kill members of her family if they came onto the property. 

Watkins says he believes that if Clowers is granted parole, his "explosive personality" could go off at any time at any person he feels wronged him. He describes Clowers as a "triple victim lying in wait murderer who deserves under the law to be denied parole by the Board at this time and in the future."

Clowers' next parole hearing will take place later this month.

There is a petition online in support of denying Clowers parole from Block Parole Inc. To sign this petition, click here.