Victims' families, friends, and prosecutors are all questioning if the Ohio Parole Board is playing Russian Roulette with public safety. In less than two months, the man who stabbed 27-year-old Maria Olberding over and over again will be walking the streets. It's a reality that almost takes Maria's family's breath away. They still can't believe it. "I truly felt he was going away for life. You take a life, you should stay in for life," said Maria's baby sister, Patti Olberding. Her big brother Doug Olberding feels the same way. "Twenty-nine years was not a fair trade for our beautiful sister. He should remain in prison," he said. Maria was one of six kids, the one who always made her family laugh. She was in the prime of her life, working in sales at The Beach Water Park and about to move into a new apartment, when she was brutally murdered doing what she loved, running. With tears filling her eyes, Patti recalls the violent attack. "From behind. She never saw it coming. And he didn't stop," she said. May 22, 1994, was the worst day of their lives. The second happened just a few weeks ago when Maria's killer was granted release. They feel like the system failed them."And when they came back in and didn't look at us, I knew. I knew, I knew." Doug said. "I thought I prepared myself, but I was completely shocked." The Olberding family is crushed and angry. They question if the parole board who voted 5-3 to release David Kohls already had its mind made up."They're not getting the victim's side. Their sole focus is trying to get prisoners out, at any cost," Patti said. Doug believes the system is broken. The same frustration is being felt in similar cases. The same day Kohls was released, Kevin Walls, who murdered 83-year-old Ann Zwiefelhoefer inside her Hamilton home 38 years ago, was also paroled. Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser is furious. "If the parole board was looking for a reason to get themselves fired, the procedures that they utilized pointed the way," Gmoser said. The day of Walls' parole hearing, Gmoser sent one of his top felony prosecutors to fight for Zwiefelhoefer. The parole board refused to let him speak. "But my assistant prosecutor was not permitted to remind the board that after he went on the run for the next 13 years as an adult, he apparently hadn't learned his ways and had his mind mature so that he knew right from wrong, because he went out and pulled an aggravated robbery. He went into a bar and planned with another individual to rob a bartender at gunpoint. As the bar was closing, Walls went to the bartender and said, 'Give me your money.' And the bartender said, 'Are you kidding?' He held the gun up to his head, pointed it away, pulled the trigger discharching into a wall and said, 'No. I'm not kidding.'" Gmoser said not only was this 83-year-old victim not represented, but the defense for Walls made up facts that were never part of the trial that only lasted three hours. So, Zwiefelhoefer had no voice. "My assistant prosecutor is sitting there listening to new facts and he wasn't able to respond and say, 'That's lunacy. That didn't happen,'" Gmoser said. Gmoser, who's been fighting for victims for 50 years and thought he'd seen it all, is disgusted by Ohio's eight-member parole board."What they did was a disgrace, in my opinion," Gmoser said. Gmoser now wants two things — the automatic right for prosecutors to speak at any parole hearing and transparency. "It's not a political issue. It's a commonsense issue, so the general public knows what the heck the parole board is turning loose on society and why," Gmoser said. For Ann Zwiefelhoefer and Maria Olberding, it's too late. The men who killed them will be released soon. "I'm scared. I'm scared for the community to know they're gonna let somebody out who is not prepared,” Patti said. Heartache, disbelief, and fear; not for themselves but for everyone else."This is gonna happen again. That's my fear," Doug said. WLWT News 5 Anchor Sheree Paolello reached out to Ohio's Department of Corrections. A spokeswoman insists this is not a money or space issue. Right now, there are 4,600 fewer inmates in Ohio prisons than in 2019. In a statement, she tells WLWT in part,"The parole board has a difficult job, one that the members take very seriously. They know the emotional impact these cases still have on the people involved and they carefully weigh the individual factors of each case when making statutorily required release decisions." As for why the Butler County assistant prosecutor was not allowed to speak during the parole board hearing, the DOC spokeswoman says the prosecutor didn't give the mandatory five-day notice to the board. That's standard procedure, so the board and the defense council can be prepared. The DOC also says with the help of Gov. Mike DeWine, the parole board has made several improvements since 2019 to enhance transparency, including live-streaming parole hearings and allowing observers. However, the Butler County prosecutor is so upset about what happened during the Walls hearing, he's submitting "Ann's Law" to a state senator. If passed, it would allow all county prosecutors the right to attend all parole hearings and testify for victims without ever giving notice.
Victims' families, friends, and prosecutors are all questioning if the Ohio Parole Board is playing Russian Roulette with public safety.
In less than two months, the man who stabbed 27-year-old Maria Olberding over and over again will be walking the streets. It's a reality that almost takes Maria's family's breath away.
They still can't believe it.
"I truly felt he was going away for life. You take a life, you should stay in for life," said Maria's baby sister, Patti Olberding.
Her big brother Doug Olberding feels the same way.
"Twenty-nine years was not a fair trade for our beautiful sister. He should remain in prison," he said.
Maria was one of six kids, the one who always made her family laugh. She was in the prime of her life, working in sales at The Beach Water Park and about to move into a new apartment, when she was brutally murdered doing what she loved, running.
With tears filling her eyes, Patti recalls the violent attack.
"From behind. She never saw it coming. And he didn't stop," she said.
May 22, 1994, was the worst day of their lives.
The second happened just a few weeks ago when Maria's killer was granted release. They feel like the system failed them.
"And when they came back in and didn't look at us, I knew. I knew, I knew." Doug said. "I thought I prepared myself, but I was completely shocked."
The Olberding family is crushed and angry. They question if the parole board who voted 5-3 to release David Kohls already had its mind made up.
"They're not getting the victim's side. Their sole focus is trying to get prisoners out, at any cost," Patti said.
Doug believes the system is broken.
The same frustration is being felt in similar cases. The same day Kohls was released, Kevin Walls, who murdered 83-year-old Ann Zwiefelhoefer inside her Hamilton home 38 years ago, was also paroled.
Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser is furious.
"If the parole board was looking for a reason to get themselves fired, the procedures that they utilized pointed the way," Gmoser said.
The day of Walls' parole hearing, Gmoser sent one of his top felony prosecutors to fight for Zwiefelhoefer. The parole board refused to let him speak.
"But my assistant prosecutor was not permitted to remind the board that after he went on the run for the next 13 years as an adult, he apparently hadn't learned his ways and had his mind mature so that he knew right from wrong, because he went out and pulled an aggravated robbery. He went into a bar and planned with another individual to rob a bartender at gunpoint. As the bar was closing, Walls went to the bartender and said, 'Give me your money.' And the bartender said, 'Are you kidding?' He held the gun up to his head, pointed it away, pulled the trigger discharching into a wall and said, 'No. I'm not kidding.'"
Gmoser said not only was this 83-year-old victim not represented, but the defense for Walls made up facts that were never part of the trial that only lasted three hours.
So, Zwiefelhoefer had no voice.
"My assistant prosecutor is sitting there listening to new facts and he wasn't able to respond and say, 'That's lunacy. That didn't happen,'" Gmoser said.
Gmoser, who's been fighting for victims for 50 years and thought he'd seen it all, is disgusted by Ohio's eight-member parole board.
"What they did was a disgrace, in my opinion," Gmoser said.
Gmoser now wants two things — the automatic right for prosecutors to speak at any parole hearing and transparency.
"It's not a political issue. It's a commonsense issue, so the general public knows what the heck the parole board is turning loose on society and why," Gmoser said.
For Ann Zwiefelhoefer and Maria Olberding, it's too late. The men who killed them will be released soon.
"I'm scared. I'm scared for the community to know they're gonna let somebody out who is not prepared,” Patti said.
Heartache, disbelief, and fear; not for themselves but for everyone else.
"This is gonna happen again. That's my fear," Doug said.
WLWT News 5 Anchor Sheree Paolello reached out to Ohio's Department of Corrections. A spokeswoman insists this is not a money or space issue. Right now, there are 4,600 fewer inmates in Ohio prisons than in 2019. In a statement, she tells WLWT in part,
"The parole board has a difficult job, one that the members take very seriously. They know the emotional impact these cases still have on the people involved and they carefully weigh the individual factors of each case when making statutorily required release decisions."
As for why the Butler County assistant prosecutor was not allowed to speak during the parole board hearing, the DOC spokeswoman says the prosecutor didn't give the mandatory five-day notice to the board.
That's standard procedure, so the board and the defense council can be prepared.
The DOC also says with the help of Gov. Mike DeWine, the parole board has made several improvements since 2019 to enhance transparency, including live-streaming parole hearings and allowing observers.
However, the Butler County prosecutor is so upset about what happened during the Walls hearing, he's submitting "Ann's Law" to a state senator.
If passed, it would allow all county prosecutors the right to attend all parole hearings and testify for victims without ever giving notice.
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