Gary Wayne Otte was born on December 21, 1971, and raised in Indiana. From an early age, Otte's life was marked by poverty, drug use, and emotional instability. According to court filings and clemency reports, Otte began using drugs and alcohol by the age of 10. His teenage years were steeped in addiction, depression, and a growing disconnect from family and society.

His mental health was a central point of discussion during later appeals. Records revealed that Otte had attempted suicide at the age of 14 and continued to experience severe depression throughout adolescence and early adulthood. He dropped out of school and drifted through odd jobs, struggling to maintain any stable lifestyle. Legal counsel would later argue that his neurological development was impaired due to early substance abuse, trauma, and lack of mental health treatment. In his early 20s, Otte relocated to Ohio. 

In February 1992, Gary Wayne Otte committed two cold-blooded murders in Parma, Ohio, during a two-day crime spree that involved breaking into victims’ homes, robbing them, and executing them by gunshot to the head.

On February 12, 1992, Otte knocked on the door of 61-year-old Robert Wasikowski. After gaining entry, Otte pulled a gun, robbed Wasikowski, and then shot him in the head. The crime was planned and executed with clear intent to kill, not just to rob. The very next day, February 13, Otte repeated the pattern, this time targeting 45-year-old Sharon Kostura, a woman who lived nearby. He entered her apartment, held her at gunpoint, robbed her, and executed her with a gunshot to the head, just as he had done the day before.

Police caught up with Otte shortly after the second murder. He was arrested on the same day, February 13, 1992. He confessed to both killings during interrogation and did not dispute the charges filed against him. In April 1993, Otte was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder and sentenced to death. Prosecutors emphasized the cold and calculated nature of the crimes, especially given the fact that both victims were attacked inside their own homes.

Over the next 25 years, Otte remained on Ohio’s death row. He filed multiple appeals based on his youth at the time of the crimes, his history of substance abuse, and his mental health issues. His defense argued that the death penalty was inappropriate given his impaired development and suicidal tendencies since childhood.

Despite those efforts, the courts consistently upheld his conviction and sentence. Otte's execution was delayed several times, but eventually rescheduled for 2017. He was executed by lethal injection on September 13, 2017, at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. He was 45 years old.

In his final moments, Otte sang a Christian hymn, offered a prayer for forgiveness, and quoted Jesus' words from the cross: "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do."