HAMILTON, Ohio -- As a judge announced that he had been sentenced to die, Von Clark Davis didn't flinch. It was the third time he's heard that.
A three-judge Butler County panel deliberated less than an hour Thursday before ordering Davis' return to death row.
Davis, now 62, was first convicted in southwest Ohio of aggravated murder and sentenced to die in 1984 for fatally shooting girlfriend Suzette Butler, 27. Appeals courts vacated that sentence and one handed down in 1989 because of lower-court errors.
During a three-day hearing this week, defense attorney Melynda Cook-Reich asked for a sentence of 30 years to life and presented testimony about Davis' good behavior, family ties and other mitigating factors. Davis took the stand Tuesday and admitted the killing, while expressing remorse to Butler's family members in the courtroom.
But prosecutors noted at the time of Butler's 1983 slaying, Davis was on parole after serving some 10 years for fatally stabbing his wife.
"It's atypical for a person during their lifetime to have purposely killed two women," said Michael Oster, an assistant county prosecutor. "What's atypical in this case is that the aggravating circumstance outweighs all the typical things you would expect that have been presented to us in mitigation."
He also warned that Davis conceivably could be paroled again if he received a lesser sentence.
Davis plans to appeal the latest sentence.
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