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There's no reason why a man convicted three separate times for three separate murders should ever again see the outside of a prison cell. The Ohio Parole Board made the right decision this past week with Eugene Blake, as the convicted killer saw his initial parole request denied, meaning he will spend at least the next 10 years behind bars.
Blake, 77, is jailed in the Chillicothe Correctional Institution for the 1982 murder of Mark Withers in Bridgeport, Ohio.
Blake also was convicted of the 1967 murder of Donna Jean Ball in Wayne County, W.Va., and the 1984 murder of Maryann Hope Helmbright in Wheeling.
At every turn -- at least until he came before the Ohio Parole Board -- Blake had been able to con his way out of such situations. Ohio's parole board members ensured the public's safety by keeping him in jail.
"After weighing all relevant factors, the board -- by way of majority vote -- has determined that release at this time would not further the interest of justice given the unique elements of the crime and conviction, and it is likely that he would engage in additional criminal activity," the parole board stated. "… Blake has served over 13 years for the shooting death of a male victim. He admits to sexually abusing a female victim involved in this incident as well.
"He is a multi-state offender with multiple murder convictions."
The fact Blake even had the possibility of parole is egregious enough. When he was sentenced for Withers' murder in 2010, a clerk filed the sentence as "20 years to life" instead of "20 full years to life." That loophole made him eligible to go before the parole board.
"The evilness involved in cruelly and purposely taking a life cannot be expressed in words," Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan said following the decision. "Eugene Blake does not deserve parole now or ever. With multiple murders, he has forfeited his right to live in a free society."
Flanagan is correct. Blake deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars. The Ohio Parole Board made the right call in denying his request to be released.