State officials have been feeling the pressure since the bloody, 43-minute lethal injection of Clayton Lockett in 2014. What do newly released records show about the political wrangling behind the scenes of Oklahoma’s death penalty process?
We will have ongoing coverage of his case, as well as other death penalty cases in the state. In the meantime, look at these pictures, by photographer Shane Bevel, from a crazy day in McAlester.
“I think the primary reason people should be opposed to the death penalty is we’ve proven that we have killed innocent people,” he said. “We are fallible. That’s the kind of mistake that is irreversible.”
A new law requires continued treatment for death row prisoners too mentally ill to execute, even those who have been persistently psychotic for decades.
Oklahoma officials repeatedly rejected Thompson’s release, weighing the violent nature of the crime over his efforts to change. Now he has a second chance.
Attorneys for John Fitzgerald Hanson said he had undiagnosed autism, and another man was more culpable for the crime. Hanson’s execution is set for June.
Wendell Grissom’s execution is scheduled for March. He was convicted in the 2005 murder of Amber Dawn Matthews, who was shot while she was protecting her friend’s children during a home invasion near Watonga.
Who has faced criminal charges after our reporting on organized crime in Oklahoma’s marijuana industry? Will the state be forced to buy out landowners flooded by Grand Lake? The Frontier is updating its most-read stories of the year.
