A former Ohio judge who beat his wife is arrested for stabbing his death

It was a shocking fall for Mr. Mason, who had climbed to the top of the high public spheres in Cleveland and Ohio. In the late 1990s, he handled crime cases as a deputy prosecutor in Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland. He was then appointed to a vacancy in the Ohio House of Representatives and remained there until his victory in the State Senate in 2006. In 2008, the state's Democratic Governor, Ted Strickland, appointed judge of Cuyahoga County.

After his arrest, the authorities were criticized for the favorable treatment that Mr. Mason seemed to have received. Although he was suspended from his job, the state's rules allowed him to collect his salary of $ 121,000 as long as the case remained open.

Due to a series of court delays, Mr. Mason has received approximately one year's salary since his arrest until he pleaded guilty to assault in August 2015. He was sentenced to two years in prison and to two years in prison. He resigned from his position as a judge and was subsequently struck off.

"He was a good judge and a friend, but he owes this company to society this time," said Timothy J. McGinty, Cuyahoga County Attorney, when sentenced. "I am confident that he will get out of the rehabilitated prison and will be an asset to our community again."

Mr. Mason served less than half of his prison term. After nine months spent in an Ohio jail, a state judge accepted his application for early release in June 2016, along with a list of conditions. One requirement: It was forbidden to have any contact with Ms. Mason, who had undergone reconstructive facial surgery to repair the damage he had caused, until at least June 2021. She filed for divorce two days after the beating, but the case was still pending in court.

In a letter to his wife shortly before his release, Mr. Mason said that he had learned from his mistakes and apologized. "I can not begin to understand the harm I have done to you, our daughters and your family," he wrote.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson hired Mason in 2017 as the city's minority business development administrator. The city defended this decision by claiming that Mason was the best candidate among a group of 16 candidates.

"It was not a political favor with Lance Mason," Jackson told WOIO-TV, the CBS subsidiary in Cleveland, last November. Mr. Jackson fired him Saturday afternoon.