Beech Grove cop killer's execution set for May 20

INDIANAPOLIS - For more than 20 years, Benjamin Ritchie has been sitting on death row after being convicted of gunning down Beech Grove Police Officer William Toney in September 2000.




Ritchie has filed direct appeals, post-conviction appeals, and even sought a federal habeas proceeding. But none of these legal maneuvers spared Ritchie from his conviction.




On April 15, the Indiana Supreme Court shut the book on Ritchie's latest attempt to avoid the death sentence by denying his petition for post-conviction relief. With that denial, the court handed down an execution date - May 20.




"It it ORDERED that execution of the death sentence imposed on Benjamin Ritchie be carried out on May 20, 2025, before the hour of sunrise," the order from Indiana's highest court reads.

Ritchie was unanimously convicted of killing Toney more than 20 years ago. A jury also unanimously recommended a death sentence for Ritchie, which the trial court imposed on Oct. 15, 2022.




Previous reports detail the cop killing, which began as a police pursuit of a stolen van on Sept. 29, 2000. Toney eventually caught up with the stolen van with Ritchie bailing out and fleeing on foot.




Toney chased after Ritchie but was caught off guard when Ritchie turned around, pulled out a gun, and fired four shots at Toney. Toney did not survive the shooting.




For 15 years, Indiana did not execute a prisoner. In late December, convicted killer Joseph Corcoran was the first person to be put to death since 2009 in the Hoosier state.




With Ritchie's decades of appeals stalling out, the convicted cop killer now appears to be next in line as Hoosier leaders push the return of capital punishment in Indiana.





via: https://fox59.com/indiana-news/beech-grove-cop-killers-execution-set-for-may-20/