The Plain Dealer Two lives in the balance in cases clouded by claims of misconduct Monday, July 10, 2006 Both are facing execution for murders in the early 1980s that they insist they didn't commit. Both were convicted on what has been described as thin evidence for capital cases, in prosecutions tainted by claims of misconduct. And both John Spirko and Anthony Apanovitch have become illustrations of the limitations of DNA analysis when it comes to unlocking the secrets of a more than two-decade-old crime scene. John Spirko Accused: Aggravated murder of Betty Jane Mottinger in Van Wert County, August 1982. Trial: Convicted in 1984, sentenced to death. Physical evidence: None. Questions about evidence: Photographs and documents, unearthed 12 years after trial, seriously undermined eyewitness testimony placing Spirko's best friend at the scene. Questions raised about the validity of information purportedly obtained from Spirko during more than a dozen untaped interviews with an investigator. Post-trial assertions about other possible suspects remain unresolved. DNA evidence: None at trial. When found, Mottinger's body was so badly decomposed that forensics experts didn't even test for bodily fluids. Current status: Last month, Spirko was granted his fourth reprieve from execution in eight months; state officials continue to comb through 24-year-old evidence for anything that might contain testable DNA. So far, that has been limited mostly to cigarette butts found near the scene and miscellaneous hairs pulled from duct tape wrapped around Mottinger's body. Testing is not complete, but there's little suggestion that these items will resolve the question of who killed her. Anthony Apanovitch Accused: Rape and aggravated murder of Mary Ann Flynn in Cleveland, August 1984. Trial: Convicted in 1984, sentenced to death. Physical evidence: Apanovitch's blood type was said to match fluids swabbed from Flynn's body, placing him within 40 percent of the population that could have killed her. Questions about evidence: Undisclosed reports showed: Flynn's blood type also matched Apanovitch's, making the fluid evidence worthless in identifying her attacker. Police identified several suspects who had at least as much access and motivation to kill Flynn. A single black hair was found on Flynn's back, beneath her bound hands, in a place indicating it could only have come from her killer. The hair did not come from Apanovitch. DNA evidence: Inconclusive. In 1991, prosecutors submitted the Flynn body swabs to an early form of DNA analysis and concluded that it narrowed the possible perpetrator pool to 11 percent of the white population. Apanovitch's attorneys say the test produced invalid results and used up all the available material in the process. With the results in dispute, and no material left to analyze, Apanovitch has declined to submit to further testing. Current status: The new hair evidence help raised enough doubt that outgoing Ohio Supreme Court Justice Craig Wright -- who had once voted to uphold Apanovitch's conviction and death sentence -- wrote to the Ohio Parole Board asking that Apanovitch's life be spared when his case comes up for clemency. Appeals pending in federal court. Email: Tracy Spirko, John Spirko's Wife