Jason Getsy

Getsy was hired for US$5,000 to kill Charles Serafino, as well as any and all potential witnesses to the crime, in an argument over a lawn care business. On July 7, 1995, Getsy killed Charles Serafino’s mother, 66-year-old Ann Serafino, in Hubbard, Ohio, and shot Charles seven times, including once in the face at point-blank range. Charles Serafino, however, survived the shooting. Getsy was 19 years old at the time of the murder.  Getsy was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death. The Ohio Parole Board voted 5-2 in favor of clemency because other people convicted in the same slaying were not sentenced to die. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland rejected the finding of the Parole Board after appeals to the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Supreme Court of the United States failed.  Getsy was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday August 18, 2009, at 10:00 AM in the death chamber of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio. He was pronounced dead at 10:29 AM. In an apology made prior to his execution, Getsy stated, “To Chuck and Nancy Serafino and your loved ones, for all the pain I have caused you it is my earnest prayer that God grants you peace. I am sorry. It is a little word, I know, but it is true. For everyone else, God is so great that He gave His only son that I may be forgiven of all my sins. Even today I can say how blessed I am that the Holy Spirit lives in me.”