In a grim turn of events, Oklahoma saw the execution of John Hanson, 61, on Thursday morning for his heinous crimes committed in 1999, marking the end of a moratorium by the Biden administration that had paused such federal executions for two years.
The reinstatement of Hanson’s death sentence was possible thanks to an executive order by Trump that revived federal executions. This directive, signed shortly after Trump resumed office, described the death penalty as “an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes.”
In a controversial move at the start of his second term, Trump issued pardons to approximately 1,500 individuals involved in the US Capitol unrest on January 6, 2021. This included offenders who assaulted a Capitol police officer with a deadly weapon; the officer tragically lost his life the following day.
Previously, during the Biden administration in 2022, Hanson’s transfer from federal custody in Louisiana to Oklahoma had been thwarted, reflecting Biden’s stand against capital punishment. Prior to his departure from the White House, Biden also reduced the death sentences for all federal death row inmates except three.
Hanson became the 22nd individual to be executed in the United States this year under Trump’s presidency, adding to the macabre toll of four executions conducted within just this week, reports the Mirror US.
The crime that placed Hanson on death row involved the armed assault of 77 year old Mary Agnes Bowles at the Promenade Mall in Tulsa on August 31, 1999. Together with his accomplice, Victor Miller, Hanson carjacked and abducted the elderly woman.
It was revealed they intended to use her vehicle for a bank heist but ultimately led Bowles to a remote area near a dirt pit.
Jerald Thurman, the owner of the pit, watched as the car drew near. Miller got out of the vehicle and fired four shots at Thurman.
“Do you have any kids or anyone who loves you?” Bowles was reportedly asked by the men, before Hanson struck her. Miller then halted the car, and Hanson forced Bowles out and shot her at least six times, court documents reveal.
Callie Heller, representing Hanson, condemned his Thursday execution as “an act of pointless cruelty.”
She argued that his autism made him vulnerable to influence from his “dominating co-defendant.”
Oklahoma’s Attorney General, Gentner Drummond of the Republican Party, declared that justice had been achieved. “This case demonstrates that no matter how long it takes, Oklahoma will hold murderers accountable for their crimes,” he stated.
Jacob Thurman, son of the slain Jerald Thurman, expressed relief following the conclusion of the case. “I feel like now we can finally be at peace with this,” he said.
“I feel like we have some closure and our families can pick up the pieces now and move forward.”
Sara Parker Mooney, Bowles’ niece, called for an overhaul of capital punishment after witnessing Hanson’s execution for her aunt’s murder.
“Capital punishment is not an effective form of justice when it takes 26 years,” she remarked. “Respectfully, if the state is going to continue to execute individuals, a better process is needed. This existing process is broken.
“It gives me a sick feeling of guilt and complicity to know that this execution has occurred invoking the name of Aunt Mary and, as one who loved her, implicitly me,” Bowles’ grand-niece, Alana Price, told USA Today.
“Executions like these don’t heal violence – they reproduce the violence and make the pain worse, forcing everyone in our society to be complicit in murder.”
Death row inmate Hanson declined a special last meal before his execution, instead choosing a chicken pot pie, two rolls, two fruit cups, and some carrots, officials confirmed.
Hanson was pronounced dead at 10:11 a.m., with one media witness describing the procedure as one of the quickest executions they have ever seen.
The execution, carried out via lethal injection, was completed with remarkable speed, observers said, marking the end of Hanson’s time on death row.