Ohio corrections officials say a 59-year-old Cincinnati man convicted of killing his stepfather with an ax more than four decades ago is missing again, marking the second time this year he has vanished from parole supervision. Michael Ballein is listed as a parole violator at large, and the state warns he should be considered dangerous and possibly armed.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction lists Ballein as a parole violator at large whose whereabouts are unknown, according to WLWT. State records show he was most recently declared at large on October 15, his second such declaration this year, after an earlier one on July 12. Corrections officials have also told the public not to approach Ballein if spotted, and to call 911 instead.
Ballein's case stretches back to July 25, 1983, when police said he used an ax to strike his stepfather, Paul Holden, in the face while Holden lay in bed on Westwood Avenue in Cincinnati. Ballein was 15 years old at the time. Holden died from his injuries that October 1. Ballein entered prison at age 16 for aggravated murder and received a sentence of 20 years to life, according to state records cited by the station.
A Four-Decade Pattern of Parole and Return
Ballein first received parole in 2006 but returned to prison in December 2007. In between, a January 2007 complaint accused him of possessing crack cocaine, a case that contributed to a Hamilton County drug-possession conviction. He also faced a burglary case in Clermont County, pleading guilty to a reduced charge in March 2008.
He was paroled again in 2012, and state records describe repeated declarations of him as a parole violator at large in the years that followed, along with additional returns to prison and subsequent releases. His most recent release on parole came December 15, 2025. Hamilton County records show he was then arrested for obstruction on July 21, 2026, and on that same date his prison history listed him as a technical parole violator who had been restored while at large. The station's report notes that records provided to WLWT do not explain how that status change related to the arrest.
Advocate Questions State's Handling of the Case
Bret Vinocur, president of Block Parole, a group that tracks parole violators and works with victims' families through parole hearings, questioned the state's handling of Ballein's case. Vinocur said Ballein's repeated violations raise concerns about rehabilitation and supervision. He also said the failure to rehabilitate Ballein, combined with him now being missing, is highly concerning.
The station reported that it asked state corrections officials how Ballein was supervised, which violations led to his latest wanted status, and what is being done to find him. Those specifics have not been made public.
Under Ohio's administrative rule governing violators at large, when an offender absconds from adult parole authority supervision, the matter must be reported in writing to the chief of the authority or a designee, according to Ohio's administrative code. From there, the offender may be declared a violator at large, or the decision may be delayed pending further investigation.
