Tyrone Noling

Tyrone Lee Noling was born in 1972 and was 18 years old when the Hartig murders occurred in April 1990.

At the time, Noling was living in the Alliance, Ohio, area and was involved with a group of teenagers and young men who committed robberies. According to the prosecution's case, the group targeted elderly people because they believed they would have Social Security money available.

Noling was subsequently arrested in connection with robberies committed by the group and became implicated in the Hartig murders.

His criminal case would eventually depend heavily on statements made by other members of the group.

Tyrone Noling was convicted of the murders of Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig, an elderly Ohio couple killed in their home in April 1990.

Noling has always denied being responsible for the killings.

The prosecution alleged that Noling participated in the robbery and was the person who shot the couple. Three other young men eventually provided statements implicating him. Their testimony formed a major part of the prosecution's case.

One of the witnesses recanted before Noling's trial, while the other two later said they had been pressured by investigators and subsequently withdrew their allegations.

Because Noling maintains that he did not commit the Hartig murders, there is no established personal modus operandi that can reliably be attributed to him.

The prosecution's theory was that the killings occurred during a robbery targeting an elderly couple.

No physical evidence placed Noling inside the Hartig home. The firearm used in the murders was never recovered, and DNA testing of a cigarette butt found at the crime scene excluded Noling and the other young men originally associated with him.

Noling was already in custody for unrelated robbery offenses when investigators began questioning members of his group about the Hartig murders.

He was initially charged in connection with the murders, but those charges were dismissed in 1992. Prosecutors later reindicted him in 1995.

His 1996 trial resulted in convictions for two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, along with death specifications.

Noling was convicted and sentenced to death in February 1996.

The prosecution's case depended substantially on statements and testimony from alleged accomplices. Three individuals implicated Noling, but their accounts subsequently became the subject of significant controversy.

Noling's direct appeals were unsuccessful. In 2002, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld his convictions and death sentence.

Over the following decades, Noling pursued multiple post-conviction challenges and requests for additional DNA testing.

Testing of a cigarette butt recovered from the crime scene excluded Noling. Other evidence, including shell casings and ring boxes, was either unsuitable for testing or subject to further litigation.

Noling's legal team has also argued that prosecutors failed to disclose evidence pointing toward alternative suspects, including information concerning another convicted murderer who allegedly confessed to the Hartig killings.

In 2026, the case received renewed national attention when Noling was granted a clemency hearing before the Ohio Parole Board. The board ultimately recommended that his death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole beginning in 2029. One member recommended a full pardon.

As of October 2026, Noling remains imprisoned and his death sentence has not been formally commuted. The clemency recommendation is before Governor Mike DeWine, while Noling continues to seek exoneration and a new trial.