Eugene Blake was convicted of three murders in two states over 17 years. Donna Jean Ball, 18, died in Wayne County, West Virginia, in 1967. Mark Withers, 21, died in Bridgeport, Ohio, in March 1982. Maryann, 13, died in October 1984. Blake was sentenced to life without mercy for the first death, paroled in 1979 after the sentence was commuted, convicted in West Virginia for the third, and in 2010 pleaded guilty in Belmont County, Ohio, to the aggravated murder of Withers. That sentence was 20 years to life.
The Ohio case had gone unsolved for more than 25 years before evidence tied Blake to it. In June 2022 he came before the Ohio Parole Board earlier than local officials had expected, and the board denied release by a vote of 5-0.
Donna Jean Ball was 18 when she died in rural Wayne County, West Virginia, in 1967. Blake was sentenced in 1969 to life without mercy for her murder. In 1976 Governor Arch Moore commuted it to life with mercy, which opened the way to parole, and Blake was released in 1979. The exact charge and plea are not on record.
Mark Withers was 21 and came from Lansing. He died in Bridgeport, Ohio, in March 1982. Blake had no known connection to either of them or to the area, and police did not suspect him at the time. The case went cold.
In 2008, 26 years later, evidence identified Blake as a suspect. Belmont County brought the case against him, and he pleaded guilty in 2010 to aggravated murder. The court sentenced him to 20 years to life for the death of Mark Withers. He entered Ohio custody on April 1, 2010.
Authorities in Belmont County believed at that time that Blake would not be released again.
Maryann was 13 and lived in Wheeling, West Virginia. She died on October 17, 1984. Blake was convicted in Ohio County, West Virginia, of her murder and sentenced to 15 years to life. The year of the conviction is not on record. In 2011 he was approaching eligibility for parole under that sentence, and by 2022 he was held in Ohio on the Withers sentence.
Ohio law makes an inmate eligible for parole after serving 70 percent of the minimum term, unless the sentencing entry specifies a number of full years. For a sentence of 20 years to life, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction counted 391 days of jail credit and 202 days of earned credit against the term. That put Blake's first hearing about 12 years into the sentence, in June 2022, and gave an expected eligibility date of August 12, 2022. Officials in the Belmont County prosecutor's office had expected the hearing to fall around 2030.
Blake was 77 in 2022. Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan wrote to the board on May 31, 2022, opposing release, and said he expected his office to oppose it. The board heard the case on June 2, 2022. On June 9 it announced its decision: parole was denied by a vote of 5-0. The board found that release would not further the interest of justice and that Blake would be likely to engage in further criminal activity. It noted that his conduct had been acceptable but that he had not taken part in programming addressed to his risks. The next review was set for June 1, 2032, when he will be 87.
The hearing date depended on how the Ohio sentence was written. The sentencing entry in the Withers case read 20 years to life. Under the state's rule, a minimum term is reduced to 70 percent for the purposes of a first hearing unless the entry states 20 full years to life. With the credits applied, Blake qualified for a hearing years ahead of the date local officials had expected. Belmont County officials had expected a first hearing around 2030. The parole board's decision made the question moot for the time being.
Whether Blake was entitled to a parole hearing as early as 2022 was contested. Belmont County officials had expected 2030. The board's decision of June 9 left the next review at 2032. The charges and pleas in the 1969 and 1984 West Virginia cases, and the year of the second conviction, are not on record.
1967: Donna Jean Ball, 18, dies in Wayne County, West Virginia.
1969: Blake is sentenced to life without mercy.
1976: Governor Arch Moore commutes the sentence to life with mercy.
1979: Blake is paroled.
March 1982: Mark Withers, 21, dies in Bridgeport, Ohio.
October 17, 1984: Maryann, 13, dies; Blake is later convicted in Ohio County, West Virginia, and sentenced to 15 years to life.
2008: Evidence identifies Blake as a suspect in the Withers case.
April 1, 2010: Blake is admitted to Ohio custody.
2010: He pleads guilty in Belmont County and is sentenced to 20 years to life.
May 31, 2022: The Belmont County prosecutor writes to the parole board opposing release.
June 2, 2022: The Ohio Parole Board hears the case.
June 9, 2022: Parole is denied by a vote of 5-0.
June 1, 2032: Next parole review.