Oklahoma carried out the execution of John Fitzgerald Hanson, 61, at 10:11 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, as reported by News4JAX. His final words before receiving a lethal injection were, "Peace to everyone." Hanson was convicted of the 1999 carjacking and murder of a 77-year-old Tulsa woman.
According to details from KOCO, Hanson was involved in the carjacking of Mary Bowles at a Tulsa mall, later abducting and fatally shooting her in an isolated area near Owasso. During the carjacking, Hanson and an accomplice also killed Jerald Thurman, an innocent bystander. "Today, justice was finally served for Mary Bowles and Jerald Thurman. After more than 25 years of waiting, the killer who brutally took these two precious lives has paid the ultimate price for his heinous crime," Oklahoma Attorney General Drummond stated.
Hanson's case drew attention due to his transfer from federal to state custody, a move hastened by President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at more aggressive enforcement of the death penalty. Prior to his transfer to Oklahoma, Hanson was serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Louisiana for unrelated federal convictions, as mentioned in coverage by NBC News.
The lead-up to the execution was marked by legal challenges, with Hanson's attorneys claiming an unfair clemency hearing. One basis of the last-minute appeal was an allegation of bias by a board member who had worked for the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office during Hanson's prosecution. Additionally, a separate appeal went to the U.S. Supreme Court over claims that a key witness had received favorable treatment in exchange for testimony, an arrangement not disclosed to Hanson's defense. Despite these efforts, both the district court's temporary stay and the subsequent appeals failed to prevent the execution.
