Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has postponed the first two executions scheduled for next year, meaning the state’s unofficial death penalty moratorium will continue after his first term.
DeWine, a Republican, has attributed the need for the reprieves to the state’s ongoing inability to obtain drugs from pharmaceutical companies. The state’s last execution was July 18, 2018, when Ohio put to death Robert Van Hook for killing a man he met in a bar in Cincinnati in 1985.
The governor on Friday postponed executions scheduled for January and February to February and April of 2026. Nine men are still scheduled for execution next year though more reprieves are expected.
