Tony Mann, 70, appeared by video call before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Tuesday, asking for a chance to leave prison after more than four decades behind bars for a 1983 murder in Grady County. The board voted unanimously to recommend him for parole, though Gov. Kevin Stitt still holds the final say on whether Mann will actually walk free, according to KOSU.
The recommendation comes more than four decades after Mann and his younger brother, Wayne Thompson, were both sentenced to death for the murder of Charles Keene, according to KOSU. Keene was married to Vickie, a sister of the two men, and family members have said he had a history of violent and abusive behavior toward her. Court records cited by the station say Mann devised a plan with Thompson and two other men to kidnap Keene, beat him and drop him off on a highway with orders not to return.
A Night on the Washita River
Thompson, who was 15 at the time of the killing, testified in court that his older brother tried to talk him out of killing Keene and attempted to stop the car on the highway to let Keene out, the station reported. Instead, according to the same account, Thompson threatened Mann with a gun and forced him to park on a bridge over the Washita River, where Thompson shot Keene multiple times. Thompson and another man then weighed Keene's body down with a heavy chain and cement block and dumped it into the river, while Mann waited in the car until Thompson ordered him to drive the group back into town.
Four men total were sentenced to death for Keene's murder. One of them was stabbed to death weeks after arriving on death row in 1984, the report notes, and another man's death sentence was later overturned, leading to his acquittal at a second trial. Thompson's own death sentence was reduced to life with the possibility of parole, and Mann is now the only one of the four still in prison for the crime.
Appeals Court Record
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed a lower court's denial of Mann's application for post-conviction relief, according to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. In that same opinion, the court detailed what became of the other men sentenced alongside Mann and Thompson — including Richard Jones, who was acquitted at retrial, and Bobby Joe Glass, who was killed on death row — and found that, given the strength of the evidence against Mann, any errors raised at his trial were harmless.
Mann's sentence was reduced in January, opening the door to parole for the first time, as reported by KOSU. At Tuesday's hearing he expressed remorse for his part in Keene's death. Board Chairman Robert Reavis II said Mann's age and deteriorating health should be taken into consideration when weighing his case.
Health Struggles Behind Bars
Mann recently had an abscess cut out of his lung and a stent put in his heart, according to his attorney and family, and he has also been in and out of the hospital with pneumonia, the station's report states. He is currently held at the James Crabtree Correctional Facility in northwest Oklahoma, as noted by KOSU. About a dozen family members attended Tuesday's parole board meeting in support of his release.
Among them was Cindy Welch, a sister of both men, who believes both brothers deserve to be free. Sean Malloy, who also spoke on Mann's behalf, said it did not make sense for Mann to remain imprisoned while Thompson was already free. Thompson himself has been free on parole for nearly a year and hopes Mann can move in with him soon at his two-bedroom house in Ninnekah, KOSU reported KOSU.
Building a Support System
Thompson, who lives across the street from a senior nutrition center, has already started arranging for Mann to get lunch there and some social interaction once he's released, according to the same KOSU account. “He's got the same support system that I had when I got out,” Thompson said. Thompson works at Heartland Energy Solutions hauling rig waste to disposal sites, per a report from KOSU, and recently adopted a puppy as he's rebuilt his life outside prison.
Thompson's own path to freedom followed a similar arc. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended his parole during its January 2025 meeting, and Gov. Stitt approved his early release, according to News 9. He was required to complete a six-month transition program through the Oklahoma Department of Corrections before his release became final. Thompson's death sentence had been commuted to life with the possibility of parole following a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Not every similar case ends in release. Roger Rowbotham, an Oklahoma man serving a life sentence after his own death sentence was reduced, was denied commutation by the Pardon and Parole Board in a 4-1 vote, according to News on 6. Rowbotham had been sentenced to death in 1974 for stabbing Beverly Meeker to death in Rogers County. Whether Mann's case will end differently now rests with Stitt, who has not yet acted on the board's recommendation.
