Convicted of a double murder 30 years ago, former Portage County resident Tyrone Noling has sat on Ohio’s death row ever since. Earlier this month, a parole board saved his life.
In court filing after court filing in state and federal courts, Noling insists he is innocent of the April 5, 1990, murders of Cora and Bearnhardt Hartig, found dead in their Atwater home. In connection with their murder, he was also found guilty of two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated burglary.
The Ohio Parole Board on Aug. 18 rejected Noling’s latest plea, a clemency application for a pardon. Instead, the majority of the board recommended the death sentence be amended to life in prison with eligibility for parole.
Portage County Prosecutor Connie Lewandowski said she will work with Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson to ask Gov. Mike DeWine to consider the parole board’s request.
Ohio reinstated the death penalty in 1981, but has not executed anyone since 2018. Beside Noling, the only other former Portage County resident on death row is James Trimble, convicted in 2005 of the murder of his girlfriend Renee Bauer, her 7-year-old son Dakota Bauer and Sarah Positano, who he later took hostage after he broke into her home.
Correction: A previous version of this article misreported that the board recommended life in prison without parole. The majority of the board recommended parole eligibility beginning on January 1, 2029, and one member of the board fully endorsed Noling's request for pardon.