BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Before sentencing Ahmad Fawzi Issa on Friday, the judge acknowledged that the convicted killer was only the middleman in a murder conspiracy. But he said that was reason enough to send Mr. Issa to death row.
"Murder-for-hire is cold and calculating and shows absolutely no regard for human life," said Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge David Davis. "If there is a worst form of murder, this is probably it."
The sentence means that Mr. Issa is the only one of three original suspects to receive the maximum penalty.
He was convicted last month of hiring the hit man who shot and killed Maher Khrais and Ziad Khreis in a convenience store parking lot in Westwood.
Prosecutors have said the Nov. 22 shootings were the result of a plot that also involved Mr. Khrais' wife, Linda Khriss, and the hired killer, Andre Miles.
They said Mrs. Khriss wanted her husband dead because she feared he would divorce her, leaving her destitute. Mrs. Khriss, who was charged with aggravated murder, was found not guilty.
Mr. Miles was convicted of aggravated murder last month but his jury recommended a sentence of life in prison.
At Mr. Issa's sentencing hearing Friday, his attorneys argued that he should be spared because the other suspects did not receive the same punishment.
"You can't say that Mr. Issa is more culpable than the other two defendants," said defense attorney Elizabeth Agar. "If we impose the death penalty on him, we're admitting there is no consistency in applying that sentence."
In a written opinion, Judge Davis said Mr. Issa played a crucial role in the crime, from the early planning stages to the night of the murder.
"The court finds that but for the defendant's participation in this offense, the homicides would never have occurred," Judge Davis wrote.
Mr. Issa, who denies involvement in the plot, told the judge the verdict was unfair because jurors were allowed to hear testimony from unreliable witnesses.
"I would like to say that I didn't have a fair trial," Mr. Issa said. "I think my rights have been violated."
