WARREN, Ohio - Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins has penned a letter to the Ohio Adult Parole Authority opposing parole for a man who is up for parole in December.

Watkins is urging the Board not to approve parole for 60-year-old Van Gentry Fickes, who is serving a 30-year-to-life sentence for the murders of his mother Christine Fickes and his brother Ronald Fickes in Warren back in October of 1983.

He was sentenced for the murders in 1985.

Following the crime, prosecutors say Van "acted normal" with his wife and in-laws at his mother-in-law's home.

According to the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, Van committed the crime while he was on probation for an attempted breaking and entering conviction and under indictment on another breaking and entering charge.

Prosecutors say the two victims were killed by shotgun blasts to the head and that Van has a fascination with explosive devices.

In his letter, Watkins says several of Van's family members were and still are afraid of him and described him as a "clear and present danger to the public."

"[Van's] track record of incorrigibility and extreme violence, in my opinion, makes his release on parole unfathomable," Watkins said.