By John McCarthy
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - Maneuvering by Richard Cooey's lawyers and the courts' willingness to play along were responsible for the postponement of the convicted killer's execution, the mother of one of his victims said Friday.

Cooey was scheduled to be executed Thursday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville for the rape and murder of two University of Akron students in 1986.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court late Thursday upheld lower courts' rulings that Cooey's new attorney, who was appointed to the case on Monday, needed more time to study it.

The blame for the delay belongs squarely with Margery Koosed, an Akron attorney and anti-death penalty activist, said Mary Ann Hackenberg, the mother of Dawn McCreery. Dawn, 20, was murdered along with Wendy Offredo, 21, on Sept. 1, 1986.

Koosed and fellow attorney Nathan Ray were removed from Cooey's case by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June. The court said it was dissatisfied with the pair's court filings, oral arguments and billing practices. They had been paid a total of $172,000 since 1997 to represent Cooey.

The lawyers worked the courts to gain a delay, Hackenberg said.

"The system let us down big time. I feel it was manipulated. I think they did a masterful job," Hackenberg said. "I blame the courts for letting themselves be played. I think she knew exactly what she was doing."

A telephone message was left at Koosed's office. Calls to her home on Friday were not answered. Although Gregory Meyers of the Ohio Public Defender's office took over as Cooey's attorney in federal court this week, Koosed still is representing Cooey in state courts.

McCreery's family was prepared to witness the execution had it occurred, Hackenberg said.

"We were all in the process of thinking they could do something quickly," she said. "When it (the postponement) came, it was really a blow."