{"id":210963,"date":"2026-10-06T21:59:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T02:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=210963"},"modified":"2026-10-06T22:00:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T03:00:43","slug":"more-testing-ordered-in-spirko-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/10\/06\/more-testing-ordered-in-spirko-appeal\/","title":{"rendered":"More testing ordered in Spirko appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional evidence has been ordered to be tested in a Van Wert County murder case that dates back nearly 45 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Judge Martin D. Burchfield recently signed an order for more evidence to be submitted for DNA testing in the case of John G. Spirko Jr., the man convicted of killing postmistress Betty Jane Mottinger in 1982.<\/p>\n\n\n

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John Spirko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Burchfield\u2019s latest order, which was signed last month, calls for four more samples to be collected from the mobile home of John Willier in Findlay, including swabs from the family room area, master bedroom floor top joist and master bedroom floor side joist at Willier\u2019s mobile home. The order specifies those samples are to be sent to Bode Technology in Virginia for testing, with Spirko covering the cost of the DNA testing and shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order states Bode Technology is required to itemize and preserve the evidence when it receives it and document the procedures used to maintain and preserve the evidence. It also said Bode will consult with Spirko\u2019s legal counsel regarding the course of testing with the goal of analyzing any human DNA that can be recovered from the evidence. Bode is required to provide both sides with complete test results. It’s not clear if the samples have already been collected and\/or tested and its unknown when the results may be ready. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spirko, 80, is serving life in prison for the 1982 abduction and murder of Mottinger, who served as postmistress in the tiny village of Elgin, in southeast Van Wert County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mottinger was working at the Elgin Post Office when she was fatally stabbed during a robbery. Her body was found in a field in Hancock County more than a month later. According to reports, Mottinger\u2019s body was wrapped in a canvas tarp that was covered in paint splatter, weighted down with concrete slabs and was secured by rope and duct tape. Her disappearance and murder made statewide headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Spirko was originally sentenced to death but in 2008, then-Governor Ted Strickland commuted his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His case has been tied up in the appeals process since his conviction in 1984. He\u2019s currently incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution and is being represented by attorneys with the Ohio Innocence Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before his conviction, Spirko had a lengthy criminal history. Among his other legal troubles \u2013 a 1970 murder conviction in Kentucky, a barroom fight with bikers and subsequent shotgun-waving incident in the Toledo area two months after Mottinger\u2019s murder. He had also confessed to a series of coed murders in Michigan, only to later recant his story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor Additional evidence has been ordered to be tested in a Van Wert County murder case that dates back nearly 45 years. Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Judge Martin D. Burchfield recently signed an order for more evidence to be submitted for DNA testing in the case of John G. Spirko Jr., […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-14 17:23:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210963"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210978,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210963\/revisions\/210978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}