In 1992 and 1993, defendant Paul Reed and his wife, Trena Reed, organized and managed a burglary and theft ring which operated in Kentucky and Ohio. Several co-conspirators were involved including the victim, Christopher Lee Pettit. During the investigation of these offenses, Christopher Lee Pettit, 18, became an informant for the Frankfort, Kentucky, Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Pettit’s cooperation led to a state court indictment charging Reed and his wife with the offense of receiving stolen property. The trial was scheduled to begin in Frankfort on June 14, 1993. Through their discovery materials, Reed and his wife found a statement made by Pettit which implicated the two of them in criminal activity. Consequently, they formulated a plan to get rid of Pettit prior to trial. After an initial attempt was aborted, Reed contacted Pettit and indicated that he and a juvenile (who was only twelve years old at the time of the offense) wanted Pettit to travel to Ohio to “party” for a few days at the residence of Pettit’s relatives. Pettit agreed. They left Kentucky around June 10, 1993. While traveling north in Ohio, Pettit pulled the car over at the request of the juvenile who indicated that he needed to relieve himself. All three individuals exited the car, and the juvenile handed Reed a .22 caliber revolver, which belonged to Reed and his wife. The victim tried to escape by running down the highway, but Reed fired six shots and hit the victim four times. At that point, Reed handed the gun back to the juvenile who reloaded the weapon. Reed then shot Pettit four additional times at close range. The juvenile then indicated that he saw the victim’s foot move so he cut Pettit’s throat with a pocket knife. Reed and the juvenile dragged the victim’s body into some weeds and attempted to cover the body with a branch. Back in Kentucky, they threw the firearm into the Kentucky River and burned their clothes. Later that afternoon, Pettit’s body was found by an Ohio highway road crew. For the defendant’s actions, he was charged and convicted in both federal and state court. In federal court, the defendant entered into a written plea agreement where he pled guilty to one count of conspiring to kidnap for the purpose of murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1201(c) with a 324 month term of imprisonment. In our County, the defendant pled guilty to Aggravated Murder in violation of O.R.C. 2903.01(A) with a sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after twenty years. Reed’s sentence was ordered to run concurrently with the federal sentence. The defendant has now served the entirety of his federal sentence but remains incarcerated for his Aggravated Murder conviction in state court. Although Reed has served over twenty-four years in prison, this was a violent, pre-meditated murder which resulted in the brutal death of a young man who was attempting to turn his life around and assist law enforcement. In our opinion, releasing this defendant will diminish the seriousness of the offense for which he was convicted and will fail to adequately punish this defendant for his actions. Additionally, his release would create a risk to public safety. Therefore, the State is strongly opposed to his release on parole at this time.