John Edwards, of 'The Ohio 4,' seeks freedom, new trial in controversial 1991 Lorain murder

Attorneys for a man controversially convicted in a 1991 Lorain murder have once again asked a Lorain County judge to vacate his conviction and rule on his request for a new trial. Attorneys Alasan Huff and Joshua Dubin filed a 62-page motion in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on Sept. 25 on behalf of John Edwards, 56, one of the so-called "Ohio 4" convicted in the killing of Marsha Blakely. The filing asks Judge Donna Freeman to vacate Edwards' conviction and release him from prison, set further court hearings, grant him authority to collect more evidence and decide a still-pending motion for a new trial. It also asks Freeman to force elected Prosecutor Tony Cillo to respond to the Sept. 25 filing. No hearings have been scheduled, according to Freeman's docket. Cillo said Monday he hadn't seen the filing and couldn't comment on it. "We'll respond to it" after reviewing it, he said. He also repeated his promise that he would give a fair review to the convictions of John Edwards; Lenworth Edwards; Benson Davis, also known as Ian Davis; and Alfred Cleveland. John Edwards' attorneys wrote that they weren't convinced. "The state's purported desire to conduct an investigation rings hollow and is belied by their lack of communication regarding their efforts or findings," Huff and Dubin wrote. "Mr. Cillo has not responded to phone calls and letters, nor has he provided updates. He has had a more than reasonable period of time to do so. It certainly appears that he is not acting in good faith. The time to correct this injustice is long overdue." Cleveland and Lenworth Edwards were paroled in 2020. John Edwards and Davis remain in prison. The attorneys wrote that viable alternative suspects in Blakely's death have been identified. Politics, they wrote, are partly to blame for their client not being found innocent and released. "John Edwards should have been home to spend the December 2024 holidays with his family, but he remains incarcerated nearly two years later due to political factors that are well out of his control," Huff and Dubin wrote. John Edwards' first parole hearing is scheduled in August 2028, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The men and their supporters claim they are innocent and were wrongfully convicted, framed by witness William Avery Jr., who was seeking a financial reward for providing information against them. Twenty years after he first gave it, Avery Jr. recanted his testimony implicating the men. He said in 2004 and 2006 that he lied on the stand, but later refused to testify again because he wasn't given immunity from prosecution on perjury charges. Supporters of the four men came to include former Lorain County prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson, a Democrat and former criminal defense attorney who lost to Cillo in the 2024 election. In the final months of his term, Tomlinson backed the Ohio 4 in their quest for new trials and exoneration. Cillo reversed course when he took office in early 2025, and Judge Giovanna Bremke granted his request to undo Tomlinson's support of the men. All of the appeals by the Ohio 4 in the past 30 years have been denied in state and federal courts. Members of Blakely's family have opposed their exoneration. Four different Common Pleas judges each have one of the Ohio 4 cases on their docket. Judge Chris Cook in late 2024 declined a request by Tomlinson and defense attorneys to merge all four murder cases into one. Attorneys for the Ohio 4 have asked anyone with information on Blakely's murder to come forward and contact them. They have released a trove of court records and documents that can be found online at FreeTheOhio4.com. Contact Dave O'Brien at 440-329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.