Former State Prisons Director Passes Away

Former Ohio prisons director Terry Collins, who oversaw more than 30 executions and then became an anti-death penalty advocate in retirement, died Thursday of a heart attack at the age of 63. Collins also served as warden at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville immediately after the 1993 prison riot that left nine inmates and a guard dead. He was named prisons director in 2006 and retired in 2010. Collins defended Ohio's execution procedures but actively opposed capital punishment after his retirement. He was scheduled as keynote speaker at an anti-death penalty event at the Statehouse next month.