The execution of convicted killer James D. Worley has been indefinitely delayed while his conviction and death sentence are under appeal.
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The Ohio Supreme Court said Monday that no execution date would be set while Worley's appeal is pending.
Worley, 59, of rural Delta, Ohio, was found guilty of aggravated murder, kidnapping, and other offenses stemming from the July, 2016, abduction and murder of Sierah Joughin, 20, of Metamora. Fulton County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Robinson in April sentenced him to death, naming an execution date of June 3, 2019.
The death sentence marked the conclusion of weeks spent in court for both the convicted, and the loved ones of his victim. Before he was sentenced, Worley gave a nearly 45-minute statement that was at times defiant but not remorseful.
Ms. Joughin’s mother, Sheila Vaculik, made the last of several victim impact statements and called her daughter “compassionate and vibrant.”
“This was a soul that embraced living and everything it had to offer,” she said at the time. “It is hard to put into words the feelings I’ve experienced over the last year and nine months; the hole that will never heal in my heart.”
It was expected that the execution date would be postponed as Worley begins what could be years of appeals. He is being held on Death Row at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution.
First Published August 20, 2018, 2:26 p.m.
