Scott Mink was arrested for and convicted of the Sept. 19, 2000, stabbing of his parents, William and Sheila Mink, 79 and 72. At the time of the murders, Mink was addicted to crack and an alcoholic. He was under the influence of both alcohol and cocaine, as well as other drugs, when the stabbings occurred. In April 2001, Mink announced in court that he wanted to be executed for killing his parents. His attorneys explained that he did not consider his decision to be suicide, and his religious beliefs instructed him that, if he committed suicide, he could not go to heaven and he could not be forgiven. On June 20, 2001, a three-judge panel sentenced Mink to death. Acting as his own counsel, Scott Mink pleaded guilty and asked the panel in Montgomery County to sentence him to execution. The justices ruled unanimously that the 40-year-old was competent when he rejected attorney help, entered his plea and declined to present any evidence to argue for a sentence of life in prison instead. The June 20th decision, written by Justice Francis E. Sweeney, the Supreme Court overruled 18 assignments of error advanced by court-appointed appellate counsel representing Mink and voted 7-0 to uphold the trial court's decision and sentence. The justices were also charged with improperly explaining the meaning of “mitigation” to Mink, thus leading him to abandon his appeals. On April 14, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld Mink's conviction.