The Ohio Parole Board decided Tuesday to continue the third parole hearing of an Athens man convicted of murdering an Ohio University student in 1983.
Merlin Ryan, 49, has spent the past 30 years incarcerated in the London Correctional Institution in London, Ohio. He was charged with one count of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated murder.
Ryan’s third parole hearing initially took place in Columbus on Sept. 19.
According to the board’s documents, the Central Office Board Review will continue the hearing until Sept. 1, 2018.
The parole board said that since Ryan was charged for the murder of Ali Bulgasem Ali, a 29-year-old international student from Libya, when he was 19 years old, he is not suitable for release.
The board made the decision partially because of the brutality of the crime, but also because Ryan “lacks risk-relevant programming to help manage any risk to the community,” according to the parole board’s decision. “Release would demean seriousness of the offenses and not further the interest of justice.”
Bulgasem and Ryan were heading to an alley the night Bulgasem was killed, allegedly to smoke marijuana together. Bulgasem was found stabbed 11 times and his throat slit, according to a previous Post article.
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, Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said.
Ryan is permitted to try for parole again because he has served at least two-thirds of his sentence, said JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections in a previous Post article.
The parole board stuck with its decision that Ryan’s release would not “further the interest of justice” and could pose a risk to public safety based on the severity of his crimes, even though they were committed 30 years ago.
Blackburn said his office “opposes (Ryan’s) parole. We’re happy parole was denied.”
kf398711@ohiou.edu
@KellyPFisher
