Description
An Indianapolis man scheduled for execution in two weeks answered to the parole board Monday while asking for clemency. Benjamin Ritchie shot and killed Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney almost 25 years ago.
The five-person Indiana Parole Board interviewed Ritchie for an hour at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Ritchie offered apologies and remorse in what could be the last time the public ever hears from him. He wiped his eyes and choked back his emotions on multiple occasions.
On September 29, 2000, the then-19-year-old Ritchie ran from a stolen van in a Beech Grove neighborhood. Officer Bill Toney pursued him. Ritchie turned back and shot Toney five times, killing the 31-year-old husband and father of two young girls. Toney's widow, mother, sister and daughter were among the people in the room at the clemency hearing.
MORE: https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/benjamin-ritchie-killed-beech-grove-police-officer-bill-toney-final-plea-for-clemency/531-f238f6c4-7f4a-4228-a6d9-cf93acbfa70a