LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- A convicted killer who long claimed another man committed the crime was executed Wednesday after dropping a mental retardation claim and losing a late court appeal.

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Widow Speaks Man Executed Inmate's Final Statement

The time of death was 10:11 a.m., a spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Petro said.

Ernest Martin (pictured, right), 42, had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay his execution while he raised issues of poor legal aid. The court refused on Tuesday without comment.

The convicted killer spent most of Wednesday morning on the phone with his mother.

Martin also visited with other relatives at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.

He was the eighth inmate Ohio has executed since the state began carrying out the death penalty again in 1999.

Martin and his mother, Frances, 67, talked on the phone from midnight until about 4:30 a.m., said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. He then slept for about an hour.

Martin, who had been quiet and cooperative since arriving at the prison Tuesday, tried several approaches to avoiding execution. He claimed innocence, argued he is mentally retarded and said he received poor legal aid.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request to delay the execution for time to make the legal aid argument.

Martin was convicted of killing store owner Robert Robinson during a robbery in Cleveland on Jan. 21, 1983.

For the first time since 1999, there was no execution witnesses representing the victim, Dean said. Robinson's widow, now 85 and frail, did not want to travel. Martin's spiritual adviser, Charles Morgan, and his sister, Debra Reese, were to be among the inmate's witnesses.

Outside the prison, the Rev. Neil Kookoothe, associate pastor of St. Clarence Roman Catholic Church in suburban North Olmsted, said Ohioans might become more concerned about the death penalty as the pace of executions picks up.

Two more executions are scheduled for next week. Kookoothe said Ohio is on pace to become second only to Texas in the number of executions.

"That's a pretty startling fact," he said.

Kookoothe has led demonstrations at every execution since 1999. The group sets up sandwich boards with the names of death row inmates and another memorial for the victim.

On Tuesday, Martin visited with relatives and ate a special meal of a cheeseburger, French fries, apple pie and Pepsi.

Martin previously said he was mentally retarded and should not be executed, under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year. However, Martin dropped that claim after a psychologist hired by his attorneys determined he was not mentally retarded.

Gov. Bob Taft on Friday denied Martin's request for clemency.

Martin grew up in Cleveland, the fourth of seven brothers and sisters. His parents divorced when he was 4. His father, a roofer, died of cancer in 1984.

"We didn't possess very much, but we always had the necessities: clothing, food and lots of love," Martin wrote in an unpublished 1995 book, "Casualty of Justice."

Prosecutors said Martin plotted to rob Robinson with a gun he stole from a security guard in December 1982.

Martin forced his girlfriend, Josephine Pedro, to help with the robbery by persuading Robinson -- who knew Pedro -- to open the shop after hours, prosecutors said.

Robinson opened the door to Pedro, who asked for medicine for a cough, just before 1 a.m. He then shut and locked the door after she entered. Prosecutors said Martin stood outside the door and fired twice, fatally wounding the store owner.

Prosecutors said Martin, who lived nearby, left the store, went home and changed clothes, then returned to the store to finish the robbery.

Martin said he was inside his apartment when he heard gunshots. He said a man he knew only as Slim robbed the security guard and Robinson. He said he walked to the store to see what happened after the robbery occurred.

Slim was never identified.

Martin also said a witness, E.J. Rieves-Bey, saw him walking toward the store after the shots were fired.

Protesters Hold Vigil

Meanwhile, NewsChannel5's Angie Lau reported that several local death penalty protesters held a silent vigil at Cleveland's Old Stone Church as the execution was carried out.

While others were in Lucasville, the small group from the Coalition Against the Death Penalty stood downtown to pray. They prayed for forgiveness and healing for Martin and his victim.

"We just don't believe violence is the answer to violence," said Diane Pinchot, an Ursuline sister. "We definitely mourn the loss of victims, and we definitely mourn the loss of perpetrator."

"What it is saying is that vengeance equals justice," said Bill Corrigan, of St. Coleman Church. "And in the state of Ohio what we're saying (is that). But does vengeance equal justice? We don't think so."

Protester Tom O'Brien said he turned out to show that, in his words, "the cycle of violence needs to stop."