What ever happened to the former OU boxer and local man who killed women they knew?

This week, our weekly "œWhat Ever Happened To..." feature revisits two high-profile crime stories with local connections.

A FORMER OHIO University student who gave a devastating performance as a boxer in OU's "œFriday Night Fights" amateur boxing event became, in April 2007, the first person executed in Ohio during the administration of Gov. Ted Strickland.

James J. Filiaggi, who was killed at age 41, was convicted in Lorain County in 1995 of aggravated murder for fatally shooting his ex-wife after learning that she'd become engaged again after their divorce.

According to media accounts, in January 1994 Filiaggi, armed with a handgun, broke down the door of his ex-wife's home and entered her house. When she fled to a neighbor's home, Filiaggi pursued her, broke in the door of this house as well, found his ex-wife in a closet, told her "This will teach you to f--- with me," and shot her twice. Wounded but not killed, she then reportedly fled to a bedroom, where Filiaggi shot her twice more, killing her.

Originally, Filiaggi pled not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming he suffered from a bipolar disorder. In April 2006, a three-judge federal appeals court panel upheld his conviction and death sentence and he gave up his appeals. But in April 2007, with his execution pending, he asked for a stay so he could join a lawsuit in Ohio challenging lethal injection as unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

At the last minute, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his appeal, and Filiaggi was executed by lethal injection on April 23, 2007. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Filiaggi "rambled during his final two-minute statement, expressing love for his two teenage daughters (who declined to attend the execution) as well as three friends who watched him die."

In his final words, he questioned the wisdom of the death penalty.

"I know I flipped some worlds upside down," Filiaggi said. "For me, it's fine, but the state needs to learn this ain't the answer. This is no deterrent to crime. Some are falsely convicted, railroaded. The state needs to wake up. Maybe they will follow the Europeans. God is the only one who knows."

IN 1992, FORMER NELSONVILLE-YORK High School athletic star Michael Eckels, then 22, shocked Athens County when he cut his girlfriend down with a shotgun blast.

Testimony at Eckels' trial indicated that he and Mia Russell had argued at the Athens County Fair, then separated, with Eckels returning to their Nelsonville apartment.

When Russell returned home later, the fight resumed, with Russell reportedly hitting Eckels in the nose and kicking him in the groin. When she left the residence he followed her outside with a shotgun, and according to his own testimony, "the next thing I knew the gun had gone off," killing Russell.

The trial was heavily publicized, and defense attorney Thomas Hodson slammed both the county prosecutor's office and local media for allegedly sensationalizing it.

Eckels ended up pleading to a murder charge, reduced from his original charge of aggravated murder.

He went to prison in 1993, sentenced to 15 years to life. He was first eligible for parole in 2006, but did not get it. His next hearing won't be for three more years, according to the Web site of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.