<p>A 220-kilogram convicted murderer who escaped execution after his lawyers argued he was too fat to be put to death has died in prison, authorities in Ohio confirmed.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Ronald Post, who spent 28 years on death row for the 1983 killing of a hotel worker, had been due to die by lethal injection in January.<br /><br />But he won a reprieve in December last year after his lawyers filed a motion arguing that a lethal injection would be "torturous and lingering" due to his enormous size.<br /><br />Post's lawyers had argued that such an injection could take up to 16 hours to work.<br />A spokesman for the Ohio prison service confirmed on yesterday that Post had died in a prison hospital in Columbus on Thursday.<br /><br />"His death was expected," the spokesman told AFP, adding that his health had deteriorated.<br /><br />Post's death penalty was commuted to life in prisonment without the possibility of parole after Ohio Governor John Kasich ruled he had not received a good enough defense at his trial.<br /><br />Kasich did not refer to Post's weight when he announced last December that the prisoner's execution would not go ahead.<br /><br />"The Parole Board's conclusion is that Ronald Post did not come close to receiving such a defense. After my own careful review, I agree," Kasich said at the time.<br />But Kasich did not pardon Post nor call for a retrial.</p>
<p>A 220-kilogram convicted murderer who escaped execution after his lawyers argued he was too fat to be put to death has died in prison, authorities in Ohio confirmed.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Ronald Post, who spent 28 years on death row for the 1983 killing of a hotel worker, had been due to die by lethal injection in January.<br /><br />But he won a reprieve in December last year after his lawyers filed a motion arguing that a lethal injection would be "torturous and lingering" due to his enormous size.<br /><br />Post's lawyers had argued that such an injection could take up to 16 hours to work.<br />A spokesman for the Ohio prison service confirmed on yesterday that Post had died in a prison hospital in Columbus on Thursday.<br /><br />"His death was expected," the spokesman told AFP, adding that his health had deteriorated.<br /><br />Post's death penalty was commuted to life in prisonment without the possibility of parole after Ohio Governor John Kasich ruled he had not received a good enough defense at his trial.<br /><br />Kasich did not refer to Post's weight when he announced last December that the prisoner's execution would not go ahead.<br /><br />"The Parole Board's conclusion is that Ronald Post did not come close to receiving such a defense. After my own careful review, I agree," Kasich said at the time.<br />But Kasich did not pardon Post nor call for a retrial.</p>