The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 on Wednesday to deny clemency for John Fitzgerald Hanson, who was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of Mary Bowles.  

Hanson and Victor Cornell Miller kidnapped Bowles from a Tulsa shopping mall and drove her to a secluded dirt pit in Owasso. Miller shot the dirt pit owner, Jerald Thurman, who saw the kidnappers in Bowles’ car. He died in the local hospital two weeks later. Jake Thurman, his son, addressed the board on Wednesday and said he was 19 when Miller killed his father and he’s now the age his father was when he was killed. 

Thurman told the board that rejecting clemency would allow his family to move forward with their lives.

A court re-sentenced Miller to life in prison for shooting Thurman after overturning two previous death sentences. Thurman told The Frontier he has waited decades for Hanson’s execution even though he didn’t fire the fatal shot that killed his father. 

Hanson shot Bowles, 77, four to six times at point-blank range before dumping her body face down in a “swampy roadside ditch” and covering her body with branches, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office A motorist found her partially decomposed remains a week later. Sara Mooney, Bowles’ niece, told the board Bowles was a second mother to her. 

“She loved Tulsa. She gave her life to Tulsa, and she lost her life doing so,” Mooney said. 

Hanson told board members he understands he’s being held accountable for Bowles’ and Thurman’s deaths. He expressed remorse for the pain the victims’ families faced. Mooney said Hanson never reached out with an apology.

“I was caught in a situation I couldn’t control,” Hanson said. 

Hanson, 61, spent decades in federal custody on an unrelated bank robbery conviction. Oklahoma officials transferred him to Oklahoma in March to move forward with his execution. Hanson had been scheduled for execution in 2022, but the Biden Administration denied his transfer back to Oklahoma. 

Hanson’s legal team said it’s a “travesty” Hanson is preparing to die while his co-defendant remains in prison with a life-without parole sentence. They argued he shouldn’t be executed because Miller was the leader behind the crime. Hanson’s attorneys blamed his actions on his undiagnosed autism. 

Hanson’s lawyers argued the trial did not include evidence of Hanson’s autism. Doctors did not diagnose Hanson with autism until he was 51, according to his attorneys. Robert Cohen, a neuropsychologist, said Hanson had followed people around “like a puppy dog” his entire life. 

Hanson’s legal team also included a report from Tulsa County District Judge Caroline Wall. In her post-trial report, Wall wrote she had tried cases more “cruel” where prosecutors didn’t seek the death penalty. She wrote she would have recommended Hanson receive a sentence of life in prison without parole. 

Emma Rolls, another legal representative for Hanson, told the board that Hanson has become a “peaceful” man. 

Roll described Hanson’s prison misconducts as “minor” but the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office described Hanson as a danger to society, citing seven misconducts while in federal custody. Two of the misconducts involved Hanson having homemade weapons. He didn’t receive any misconduct reports for violent incidents, according to records from the attorney general’s office. 

A former federal correctional employee described Hanson as clean, honest, and trustworthy.  She said she was grateful she crossed paths with Hanson.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond said Bowles was at the mall exercising when “evil” found her, referring to Hanson and Miller. 

“He chose to brutally murder a 77-year-old woman,” Drummond told the board. 

Assistant Attorney General Michael Trapasso also disputed Hanson’s autism claims, stating Cohen based his analysis on “speculation.” 

“This board should not find Dr. Cohen credible,” he said. 

Former Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris testified that this case was one of the most egregious and evil cases he encountered in 28 years. Harris, the prosecuting attorney, said Hanson wasn’t remorseful.

“The decision made by Hanson that fateful day was calculated,” Harris told board members.

Drummond issued a press release after the vote stating justice will soon be served and he appreciated the clemency denial. Hanson’s execution by lethal injection is scheduled for June 12. He would be the second person Oklahoma has put to death in 2025 if the execution is carried out.