Man Executed; Received Death Penalty In 1994

Last updated on Thursday, March 7, 2013

(LUCASVILLE, Ohio) - A Waterloo, Indiana man was executed in Ohio Wednesday. A documentary of his story is shown in schools, hospitals, and police departments across the country to teach of the dangers of drugs.

In the documentary, which aired in February 1997, convicted killer Fred Treesh had this request of 24-Hour New 8's Karen Hensel: "I will personally, on camera, ask you to be at my execution to cover it, because same thing, if it helps one person it is worth it."

Karen Hensel of WISH TV8 reports that Fred Treesh was sentenced to die for the death of a security guard. Treesh and two others from Indiana went on a five-state crime spree to rob and get money for crack cocaine. During a robbery of an adult book store outside of Cleveland, Ohio, Henry Dupree was killed.

Treesh died by lethal injection at 10:37 a.m. Wednesday in Lucasville, Ohio. However, the coverage began in 1994 when hours after getting handed the death penalty Treesh said, "When they are executing me, make a poster or videotape and put it on the national news, because I'm living proof, living proof of what drugs can do to you."

In the Emmy Award-winning documentary, Treesh never blames the crack cocaine saying, "you could lay crack on the table right now. It's not going to hurt anyone." The DARE documentary is used by schools, hospitals and police departments across the country to teach kids the dangers of drugs.

FINAL STATEMENT

24-Hour News 8's Karen Hensel was the only television reporter inside of the execution. Treesh made the following final statement:

"I would like to thank Karen Hensel for following up on a job after 20 years. This is where drugs lead you. This is true life. I wanted her to take a picture of the execution. You can't, but I'm sure you can go to the morgue to take a picture. I'm not here to say I'm sorry to any of these victims that are here. I've never been tried, never been charged with that crime. I'm here for Henry Dupree and I'm sorry. I'd like to apologize to their family for what I've done.

You want closure? Closure only comes with a book. You close it and put it on a shelf. There is no closure. Every holiday, every birthday, everything, you will think about the victim. So, if you want me murdered, just say it.

I'd also like to thank the Major at the Southeastern Ohio Correctional Facility for being such a wonderful person, and the execution team. They treated me very well. I also want to thank Mike Benza (death penalty attorney) and my best friend James Goff (death row inmate). That's it."

To read more on this story visit http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/crime/man-on-death-row-for-18-years-executed

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