More on John Spirko reprieve #7 / life without parole an option?:  Alan Johnson has more details on yesterday's grant of reprieve to Ohio death row inmate John Spirko in this article in the Columbus Dispatch, entitled "Execution delayed for seventh time: Strickland bumps date to January '08; life without parole remains a possibility."  JIm Provance has this coverage in the Toledo Blade, entitled "Spirko gets 7th death-row reprieve; Defense hopes DNA will point to someone else in 1982 death."  Greg Sowinski has this coverage for the Lima News, entitled "Spirko given seventh reprieve."  Eleanore Hayes has this video coverage (1:25) for ONN/WBNS-TV (both owned by the Dispatch, btw).

Dispatch excerpts:
...Another option still available to state officials would allow Spirko, 61, to permanently escape the executioner and likely keep him imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Life without the possibility of parole is a sentencing option unavailable under Ohio law in 1983 when Spirko was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Mary Jane Mottinger, 48, postmistress in Elgin in northwestern Ohio.

...Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said life without parole has not been formally considered.

"The governor's office has not started a thorough review of the Spirko case, largely due to the large number of reprieves," Dailey said.

Ohio governors have broad clemency powers, including granting temporary reprieves, as Strickland did yesterday. The governor also can commute sentences to life with or without the possibility of parole, to time served or to a specific number of years. The governor also can grant full pardons.

...Alvin Dunn, one of Spirko's attorneys, said in an interview with the Ohio News Network that although his client still has legal options, "We believe his best hope is with the governor."

"We're very hopeful the new people will take a careful look at this," Dunn said. "There is far too much doubt to let an execution go forward."

...In March, Attorney General Marc Dann's office confirmed that the DNA tests had uncovered nothing that conclusively proved Spirko's guilt or innocence. The state's testing bill totaled $47,000.

"This is the only (death penalty) case that's totally dependent on circumstantial evidence," Dann said at the time. ...

• Earlier coverage of reprieve #7 granted to John Spirko yesterday by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland here.
• Additional earlier coverage of Spirko case is here.