Latest news with #JohnHanson
Daily Mail
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
A grandmother was shot and killed in a gruesome carjacking. A family member says her murderer should not have been executed
A relative of a grandmother who was viciously murdered during a carjacking more than two decades ago says they never wanted her killer to be put to death - and is now speaking out against President Donald Trump for green-lighting the execution. John Hanson, 61, received the lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on Thursday morning, becoming the 22nd death row inmate to be executed in the US this year. He was convicted of killing 77-year-old Mary Agnes Bowles after he and another man carjacked and kidnapped her from a Tulsa mall in August 1999. Bowles, a retired banker and community volunteer, was found dead a week later in a remote dirt pit on the outskirts of Owasso, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds in what authorities described as an execution-style killing. Hanson and his accomplice also killed a witness to the crime. After a quarter of a century behind bars, Hanson was declared dead at 10:11am on Thursday. His execution was made possible by the Trump administration, which approved his transfer from federal custody in Louisiana to Oklahoma in February for the sole purpose of carrying out his death sentence. But Bowles' grand-niece, Alana Price, told she never wanted Hanson to be put to death and is 'so upset' at Trump for facilitating his execution, noting that Hanson was 'developmentally disabled.' Mary Agnes Bowles, 77, was shot at least six times. The retired banker volunteered at numerous local organizations, including at a local hospital where she'd logged 11,000 hours in the neonatal unit 'I want the world to know that today's state-sponsored murder of John Hanson has only deepened the grief that I feel over her loss,' Price said on Thursday. 'Each spring when I see the dogwood trees in my neighborhood start to bloom, I'm flooded once again with grief over the loss of my beloved Aunt Mary, who decorated her house with images of their four-petaled flowers. 'Following today's execution, my ongoing grief will also be layered with the weight of another murder – the state-sanctioned murder of John Hanson.' Hanson's death, Price said, left her with a 'sick feeling of guilt and complicity'. '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,' she added. Hanson had been serving life in a federal Louisiana prison for bank robbery and several other federal convictions unrelated to the Bowles case. Federal officials transferred him to Oklahoma custody in March to adhere to President Donald Trump's executive order to more actively support the death penalty. Hanson's execution had previously been set for December 15, 2022, but the Biden administration blocked his transfer to Oklahoma, in keeping with the former president's opposition to capital punishment. His execution was once again thrown into doubt this week after his attorneys argued in a last-minute appeal that Hanson didn't receive a fair clemency hearing last month. They claimed one of the board members who denied the appeal was biased because he worked for the Tulsa County DA when Hanson was prosecuted. A district court judge this week issued a temporary stay halting the execution, but that was later vacated. Like Price, Hanson's attorney, Callie Heller, blasted Hanson's execution as 'an act of pointless cruelty.' Heller claimed that Hanson has autism, and that made him more susceptible to being manipulated by his 'dominating co-defendant,' Victor Miller. But not all of Bowles' relatives were against Hanson being put to death. Her niece, Sara Parker Mooney, called for reforms to death row practices in an interview with USA Today, insisting Hanson should've been executed years ago. 'Capital punishment is not an effective form of justice when it takes 26 years,' said Mooney, who travelled from Texas to Oklahoma to witness his death. 'Respectfully, if the state is going to continue to execute individuals, a better process is needed. 'This existing process is broken.' Jacob Thurman, the son of Jerald Thurman, who was the witness killed by Hanson and Miller, also celebrated Hanson's death. '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.' Thurman gave specific thanks to US Attorney General Pam Bondi for ordering Hanson's transfer so that 'Oklahoma can carry out this just sentence.' Hanson did not request anything special for his final meal on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said. He was served what all of his other inmates received: chicken pot pie, two rolls, carrots, and two fruit cups. Before being administered his lethal dose, he told those gathered to watch his final breath: 'Just forgive me and peace to everyone.' A spiritual adviser stood close by, reading from a Bible as the execution began. Hanson could be heard snoring when the Department of Corrections chief of operations announced he was unconscious, USA Today reported. During his clemency hearing last month, Hanson expressed remorse for his involvement in the crimes and apologized to Bowels and Thurman's families. 'I'm not an evil person,' Hanson said via a video link from the prison. 'I was caught in a situation I couldn't control. I can't change the past, but I would if I could.' Hanson's attorneys acknowledged he participated in the kidnapping and carjacking, but said there was no definitive evidence that he shot and killed Bowles. They painted Hanson as a troubled youth with autism who was controlled and manipulated by the domineering Miller. Mary Bowles was returning to her car at the Promenade Mall in Tulsa on August 31, 1999, when she was ambushed by Hanson and Miller at gunpoint. The two men forced the elderly woman into her own car and drove to an isolated dirt pit near Owasso. The owner of the pit, Jerald Thurman, saw the car pull in. Miller got out and shot Thurman four times, including once in the head, as Bowles watched on helplessly from the backseat, court records state. She asked the two men, 'Do you have kids or anyone who loves you?', prompting Hanson to punch her in the face. Moments later, Miller stopped the car. Hanson forced Bowles out and shot her at least six times, court records say. Thurman's nephew was on the phone with him just before the attack and found his wounded uncle still alive shortly after the shooting. Tragically, Thurman, 44, succumbed to his injuries two weeks later. Bowles' 'significantly decomposed' remains were found on September 7, 1999, more than a week after her abduction. Hanson and Miller, meanwhile, continued on a five-day crime spree, robbing a bank and a video store, before Miller's wife turned the two men into police, following an argument. They were eventually captured two days after Bowles' remains were found. Miller was sentenced to life in prison while Hanson was sentenced to the death penalty. Later, Miller bragged that he was the one who'd shot Bowles, not Hanson, court records say. Hundreds would turn out to mourn Bowles' death. She volunteered at numerous local organizations, including at a local hospital where she'd logged 11,000 hours in the neonatal unit caring for critically ill newborns.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
Tecumseh man arrested on child pornography charges
TECUMSEH, Okla. (KFOR) – According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, a Tecumseh man has been arrested on multiple child pornography charges. Officials say on April 8, 2025, the Bixby Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Unit received a tip regarding images of child sexual abuse material. LOCAL NEWS: Update: Temporary stay granted to Oklahoma death row inmate John Hanson The investigation led authorities to 34-year-old Zachary Lippoldt. On May 21, 2025, the Tecumseh Police Department and Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office served a search warrant at his home in Tecumseh. Lippoldt later admitted to downloading child sexual abuse material. Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, he was arrested and booked into the Pottawatomie County Jail on a $200,000 bond. Lippoldt is facing 15 counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material and one count of Violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act. The investigation is still ongoing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CTV News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
4 executions are scheduled in 4 states over four days this week. Here's what we know
Gregory Hunt, Anthony Wainwright, John Hanson and Stephen Stanko are all scheduled to be executed this week. (Alabama Department of Corrections/Florida Department of Corrections/Oklahoma Department of Corrections/South Carolina Department of Corrections via CNN Newsource) Over the next four days, four inmates in four states are scheduled to be put to death – a cluster that, while not abnormal – comes amid a national uptick in executions as President Donald Trump calls for the death penalty's expansion. The executions are slated to begin Tuesday, when Alabama is scheduled to put Gregory Hunt to death for the murder of Karen Lane. On the same day, Florida plans to execute Anthony Wainwright for the murder of Carmen Gayheart. On Thursday, Oklahoma says it will execute John Hanson for the murder of Mary Agnes Bowles. And a day later, Stephen Stanko is scheduled to be put to death in South Carolina for the murder of Henry Lee Turner. While a string of executions is 'not that unusual,' according to Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project, they've 'become increasingly rare as use of the death penalty has diminished.' The number of executions each year remains far lower than its peak in 1999, when nearly 100 people were put to death nationwide. That figure steadily decreased until the Covid-19 pandemic, when it reached historic lows, said Dunham. But executions are up in the first half of 2025 compared to recent years. In addition to this week's, two more are scheduled later in June. If all six proceed as planned, it would mark 25 executions this year to date, matching the total number of executions carried out in 2024, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center. That would be the highest number of executions carried out through June since 2011. One reason for the recent uptick is the renewed interest in executions in states that have not carried them out for years, experts said. Arizona, Louisiana and Tennessee have all resumed executions in 2025 after hiatuses. South Carolina and Indiana did the same in 2024. All except Arizona are led by Republican governors. States are acting independently. But their moves come as Trump has signaled a desire to see capital punishment used more often at the federal level, saying he wants to deter criminals and protect the American people. While his day one executive order, 'Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety,' does not apply to the states, experts said the message it sends could encourage state officials who want to align themselves with the president. 'If a state is inclined to conduct executions anyway, Trump's rhetoric would be the wind behind them pushing them to do that,' said Corinna Lain, a University of Richmond law professor and author of 'Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection.' The executive order also has an overt connection to a case this week: An Oklahoma execution is moving forward because Attorney General Pam Bondi, citing Trump's executive order, approved a transfer of the inmate from federal custody to the state – a request the Biden administration previously denied. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. This a 'dark time in US capital punishment,' said Matt Wells, deputy director of Reprieve US, an organization that opposes the death penalty. Aside from the resumption of executions in some states, he pointed to states' issues with lethal injection and the advent of alternative execution methods, like nitrogen gas, and the resumption of executions in states that have not put anyone to death in years. 'Yet through his executive order on the death penalty,' Wells said, 'President Trump has sent a strong signal to states to push forward with executions.' Here's what we know about the four inmates facing execution this week: Gregory Hunt Alabama inmate Gregory Hunt has been on death row for more than 30 years. On Tuesday, he is expected to be executed via nitrogen hypoxia. Alabama became the first state to ever use the method in the execution of Kenneth Smith, which took about 15 minutes to complete. Hunt's execution would be the fifth by nitrogen hypoxia in the state and the second execution by nitrogen hypoxia this year, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Kay Ivey's office. Hunt – one of the 156 people on death row in the state – killed Karen Lane in the early hours of August 2, 1988, according to court documents. The two had been dating for about a month prior to her death. Lane was found with 60 injuries to her body, including lacerations and bruises to her head, body and organs, documents say. She also had a dozen fractured ribs, a fractured breastbone and evidence suggested she had been sexually assaulted. Hunt is representing himself in court, according to a spokesperson with the Alabama Attorney General's office. Anthony Wainwright Florida inmate Anthony Wainwright, 54, has been on death row for roughly 30 years for killing a woman after he and another man escaped from prison in 1994 in Newport, North Carolina. The two escapees stole a green Cadillac and burglarized weapons from a home before driving to Lake City, Florida, according to court documents. While in Lake City, the pair stole another car because the Cadillac was starting to overheat, documents say. The pair drove into a supermarket parking lot and spotted Carmen Gayheart, who was loading groceries into a Ford Bronco. They decided to take her car – first forcing her to get inside it at gunpoint – and drove to a wooded area where they 'raped, strangled, and executed' her with one of the stolen guns, court documents say. CNN has reached out to an attorney for Wainwright for comment. Wainwright's co-conspirator died in 2023, according to The Florida Department of Corrections. Wainwright is expected to be executed via lethal injection Tuesday. Gayheart's sister, Maria David, who attended every day of Wainwright's original trial, said the victim was a devoted mother of two who was beautiful inside and out. 'She loved those kids like nothing else, devoted wife. She was going to be an incredible nurse had she been left to live for the rest of her life,' David said. David, who also runs a Facebook page in her sister's honor, said she and other family members will at Wainwright's execution. 'This is just going to be closure for the legal aspect of Carmen's case,' David said. 'It doesn't bring closure for me, and I don't think any member of my family, by any means, because we're always going to live with the loss of Carmen.' Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed seven death warrants in the first half of 2025, according to his office – if the two executions scheduled for June go forward, that would be just one short of the state's record of eight executions in a single year since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. John Hanson John Hanson, 61, faces execution Thursday for the fatal shooting of Mary Bowles in August 1999, according to an Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals opinion outlining the case. According to prosecutors, Hanson and his co-defendant, Victor Miller, carjacked and kidnapped Bowles at a Tulsa mall, then drove her to a 'dirt pit' outside the city. There, prosecutors say, Hanson's co-defendant shot the man who owned the pit, Jerald Thurman, and Hanson fatally shot the 77-year-old woman. Hanson's attorneys contest this: They say there is evidence Miller was Bowles' true killer, having confessed while in prison to pulling the trigger. Additionally, Miller is now serving a life sentence after his death sentence was overturned – a glaring sentencing disparity given he is, according to Hanson's attorneys, more culpable than their client. They also argue that federal law was misinterpreted to facilitate Hanson's execution. While he has a death sentence in Oklahoma, Hanson has also been serving a federal life sentence for a robbery. Three years ago, Oklahoma officials asked the Bureau of Prisons to transfer Hanson to state custody so his execution could be carried out. The agency – then under the stewardship of the Biden administration – said no; it would not be in the 'public interest' because he hadn't completed his federal sentence. Oklahoma officials made the request again earlier this year, three days after Trump took office. This time, the administration – specifically Attorney General Pam Bondi – said yes, court records show. The transfer, she found, would comply with Trump's executive and promote 'state and federal cooperation on capital crimes.' Hanson is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections told CNN. Bowles' family has voiced support for the execution to move forward. Her niece, Sara Parker Mooney, remembered her aunt, a lifelong Tulsa resident, as an active member of her community and a mentor to professional women: 'She was the matriarch of our family. She was truly beloved.' 'Mary's murder was indescribably difficult then, and it still is now,' she wrote. 'We have been worn out by the multiple trials, re-trials, and appeals. We find ourselves disappointed and angry with the machinations of the judicial system and the political aspects of the last years. We are ready to be done with this matter.' Stephen Stanko Stephen Stanko, 57, faces execution Friday for the 2005 murder of Henry Lee Turner, though he also has a second death sentence for the murder of Laura Ling. Stanko's execution warrant is tied to Turner's murder because the inmate had exhausted his appeals in that case, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a notice announcing his execution date. On April 7, 2005, Stanko murdered Ling, his girlfriend, the notice says. He also raped her daughter, who was at a minor at the time, and slit her throat – though she survived. Afterwards, Stanko went to Turner's home, where he shot and killed the 74-year-old before stealing his truck and fleeing. Stanko was arrested days later. Henry Turner's son remembered his father as a 'helper,' who was willing to lend a hand to anyone, including the man who killed him. 'He was my best friend,' said Roger Turner. While Roger supports Stanko's execution, he told CNN he had forgiven the inmate for murdering his father. But he wishes the execution had taken place sooner, lamenting the two-decade cycle of appeals that would periodically reignite interest in Stanko's case – and force him to revisit his father's killing time and again. 'Here it is, 20 years later, and I'm still reliving it. I'm still hearing the guy's name,' said Roger Turner. He intends to attend the execution. Should it move ahead, Stanko will be executed by lethal injection, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Corrections told CNN. South Carolina inmates can choose their method of execution, with the electric chair and the firing squad as the other available options. CNN has reached out to Ling's daughter and Stanko's attorney for comment. Written by Dakin Andone, Michelle Watson, CNN
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
'Time for him to atone': Death row inmate John Hanson denied clemency by Oklahoma board
'Time for him to atone': Death row inmate John Hanson denied clemency by Oklahoma board Show Caption Hide Caption Death penalty: Which states still use capital punishment The death penalty has been used in the U.S. since 1608. But various Supreme Court rulings have limited its use. Here's why it's controversial. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY The Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole denied death row inmate John Hanson clemency on May 7, putting his fate in the hands of the federal judiciary. The board voted 3-2 to deny Republican Governor Kevin Stitt the option to commute the sentence to life without parole, leaving Hanson, 61, to face execution on June 12 unless a federal judge issues a stay. His legal team presented arguments that the more culpable perpetrator received a lesser sentence and that a recent autism diagnosis were mitigating factors worthy of a clemency recommendation. "Between the irregularities in the legal proceedings in the case and what we saw happen, to Mr. Hanson versus for his equally, if not more culpable codefendant, I think that this case is really emblematic of arbitrariness and administration of the death penalty," Callie Heller, Hanson's legal counsel, told USA TODAY in an interview ahead of the hearing. Hanson received the death sentence following a conviction for murdering retired banker Mary Agnes Bowles, 77, after kidnapping her from the parking lot of a Tulsa mall on Aug. 31, 1999. Attorneys told the board that Hanson maintains his innocence in the killing. Oklahoma's Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond argued in front of the board that the punishment should be carried out. "Today you've heard John Hanson shift blame onto others than himself. What you have not heard is genuine, heartfelt remorse," Drummond said at the hearing. "Now is the time for him to atone for the pain and suffering he has wrought." Hanson's apologies to the family members of the victims fell on deaf ears as they echoed Drummond's call for the execution to proceed. "I have looked for remorse and found nothing," Sara Parker Mooney, Bowles' niece, said. What was Hanson convicted of? Hanson and an accomplice, Victor Miller, wanted Bowles' car for a robbery spree, kidnapping her after she walked at the Promenade Mall in Tulsa for exercise, according to The Oklahoman − a part of the USA TODAY Network. Hanson punched her in the face when she asked if he had anyone who loved him, the lead prosecutor, former Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris, said in a Feb. 20 court declaration. Hanson shot her in a ditch near Owasso after Miller gunned down dirt pit owner Jerald Thurman, after he had spotted them on his property − according to testimony at Hanson's trial. Her body wasn't found for days. Hanson later told a friend, "Everything went bad." Hanson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the dirt pit owner's murder. Miller received life sentences without the possibility of parole for both killings after death sentences were thrown out on appeal. What does the clemency petition say? Hanson's clemency petition states that Miller was jailed with a man named Ahmod Henry in 2001 and confessed to him that he had actually been the shooter. In 2003, a Tulsa Police Department detective obtained Henry's statement on Miller's confession and the evidence was presented to Hanson's attorneys in 2005. Judge Caroline Wall granted Hanson a new trial based on the evidence but the decision was overturned by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals over questions of jurisdiction in 2006, according to the petition. "When you have these disparate sentences for people who have at least equal culpability, although in Mr. Hanson's case, there's a lot of a reason to argue that his codefendant has more culpability, you have to wonder, well, does that mean that the death sentence is inherently arbitrary and unreliable," Heller said. The petition also points to a report by Wall that said the death penalty was not the correct sentence for Hanson. "Counsel are not aware of any other capital cases in Oklahoma where a trial judge opined the death sentence imposed by the jury was not the appropriate sentence," the petition reads. Hanson's defense also says that juries did not hear evidence of how his autism made him susceptible to Miller's influence. Hanson was diagnosed in 2016. The diagnosis report cited by the petition says that there was, "unanimous opinion by family and friends that Victor Miller very easily and often manipulated Mr. Hanson into engaging in activities regardless of the possible outcomes." The state disputed the diagnosing doctor's credibility at the board hearing. "He was a follower, and he was gullible, and his codefendant was this very strong, domineering kind of personality," Heller said. "It really explains now exactly why Mr. Hansen was able to fall under his sway." Hanson returned to Oklahoma in Trump death penalty push Hanson was returned to Oklahoma about a month after President Donald Trump issued an executive order restoring federal executions. He was serving a life sentence for bank robbery and other federal crimes at the U.S. Penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to transfer Hanson from a Louisiana prison in February, "so that Oklahoma can carry out this just sentence." A federal judge in Louisiana declined to block the transfer, and Hanson arrived in Oklahoma in early March. Drummond asked the U.S. Department of Justice for the transfer on Jan. 23, three days after Trump issued the executive order. "For the family and friends of Mary Bowles, the wait for justice has been a long and frustrating one," Drummond said in a news release at the time of the transfer. "While the Biden Administration inexplicably protected this vicious killer from the execution chamber, I am grateful President Trump and Attorney General Bondi recognized the importance of this murderer being back in Oklahoma so justice can be served." Hanson had been set for execution in Oklahoma on Dec. 15, 2022, but the Biden administration blocked his transfer from federal custody. A regional director at the Federal Bureau of Prisons refused to release him, writing "his transfer to state authorities for state execution is not in the public interest." The position was in keeping with the Biden administration's opposition to the death penalty, a stance that led the administration to commute the sentences of almost all federal death row inmates.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pardon and Parole Board votes to deny clemency for death row inmate John Hanson
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted to deny clemency for death row inmate John Hanson on Wednesday, May 7. Officials say Hanson and an accomplice carjacked and kidnapped 77-year-old Mary Bowles in Tulsa in 1999. Before she was shot to death, Hanson and his accomplice shot Jerald Thurman, an innocent bystander. LOCAL NEWS: Police searching for suspects after shooting leaves one injured in NW OKC 'The families of Mary Bowles and Jerald Thurman have waited more than a quarter-century to see justice carried out against this callous murderer,' Drummond said. 'I appreciate the Pardon and Parole Board for rejecting clemency today. The Biden Administration protected this monster from justice for too long. Now is the time for him to atone for the pain and suffering he has wrought. Justice will be delivered when the death penalty is rightly served on June 12.' According to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Hanson was transferred from a Louisiana federal prison in March at his request. 'We heard that John Hanson is a changed man, a responsible and trustworthy member of his prison community and that he expresses remorse for the senseless murder of Mary Bowles. By refusing mercy, the State will now carry out the senseless killing of John Hanson.' responded Rev. Don Heath, Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Chair. Hanson's execution date is set for June 12, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Oklahoma City.
