After 30 years in prison, an Athens man convicted of slitting an Ohio University student’s throat and stabbing the student 11 times was granted a hearing for parole.
Merlin Ryan, 49, is set to attend the hearing in Columbus on Sept. 19. He has been incarcerated in the London Correctional Institution in London, Ohio.
Ryan was 19 when he murdered Ali Bulgasem Ali, a 29-year-old international student from Libya. Bulgasem was found dead in an underground OU utility tunnel after being reported missing for 21 days.
Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn, who opposes Ryan being granted parole, said Bulgasem and Ryan were headed to an alley the night Bulgasem was killed, allegedly to smoke marijuana together.
The investigation would go on for about six months with facts changing during that timespan.
For example, the Athens County prosecutor at the time, Michael Ward, suspected that Ryan acted alone, according to a previous Post article. However, it would later be discovered that Ralph Prather Jr., an Athens man who was 19 at the time, was in the tunnel the night Bulgasem was murdered. Prather was charged with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery, but has since been released, though it wasn’t immediately clear when.
The Athens County Prosecutor’s Office also believed the victim knew Prather and Ryan, and then-Assistant County Prosecutor David Warren said Bulgasem was “lured to his death,” according to previous Post reporting.
Ryan received 20 years to life in prison for the murder and 10 to 25 years for aggravated robbery. He could have received the death penalty, but he avoided that by pleading guilty on the second day of the trial, Blackburn said.
Ryan already had two parole hearings — the first in 1998 and the second in 2008, both of which were denied.
Ryan is permitted to try for parole again because Ohio’s sentencing code changed in 1996, allowing inmates the opportunity for parole after two-thirds of their sentence has been served, said JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
Blackburn said that although the Athens County Court of Common Pleas has little to do with Ryan’s case, the court will be responsible for scheduling his next hearing if he is denied parole again.
As far as the anticipated result of the hearing goes, Blackburn said he hopes Ryan stays behind bars.
“We believe he is a dangerous person,” Blackburn said.
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