Man denied death-row clemency

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Parole Board voted Tuesday to deny clemency to a man scheduled to be executed next week for murders he committed 17 years ago.\nKevin L. Hough, 43, was sentenced to death for the 1985 shootings of roommates Martin "Gene" Rubrake and Ted Bosler at their Fort Wayne home. He also was convicted with another man of killing Antoni Bartkowiak less than a month earlier.\nThe board voted 5-0 to recommend to Gov. Frank O'Bannon that he deny Hough's request to have his sentence changed to life in prison. He is scheduled to be executed by injection on May 2 at the state prison in Michigan City.\nJoey Mogul, Hough's attorney, said she planned to petition the federal courts for continued appeals within the next few days.\nMogul argued to the parole board that Hough was represented at his trial by two part-time public defenders who were overloaded with work and poorly paid. One of the attorneys has since been suspended for neglecting cases, she said.\n"It is obvious that the Indiana Parole Board does not have any qualms executing a poor, defenseless person," Mogul said after Tuesday's vote. "No one deserves to be put to death under a flawed death-penalty system."\nThe board members noted that Hough's defense attorneys had made mistakes, but found that the nature of the crimes and Hough's criminal history gave them no reason to change the sentence.\nHough's father pleaded with the board Monday to spare his son's life. He was joined by others who described Hough as a religious man who has had no serious violations in prison for more than 14 years, draws Christmas and birthday cards for his family and listens to rock music while meditating.\nBut Caroline Grable, the sister of Rubrake, one of Hough's victims, said she has waited more than 17 years for what she sees as justice.\n"In cold blood, he murdered my brother and Ted Bosler," said Grable, who lives in Columbia City. "My life came crashing down, and it will never be the same again. I don't have a big brother anymore, and I don't have a friend in Ted."\nTom Perkins of the state attorney general's office has said Hough received "constitutionally adequate" representation. The Indiana Supreme Court last week declined to review his case again.