Inmate transferred to Oklahoma by Trump administration denied clemency, set to be executed
An Oklahoma board denied clemency on Wednesday for a man convicted of killing a Tulsa woman in 1999, clearing the way for his execution next month after the Trump administration expedited his transfer from a federal prison.
Oklahoma's five-member Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to reject clemency for 61-year-old John Fitzgerald Hanson. Hanson, whose name in some federal court records is George John Hanson, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on June 12. Without a recommendation from the board, Gov. Kevin Stitt is unable to commute Hanson's sentence to life in prison without parole.
Hanson was sentenced to death in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, after he was convicted of carjacking, kidnapping and killing Mary Bowles after he and an accomplice, Victor Miller, kidnapped the woman from a Tulsa shopping mall. Prosecutors allege the pair drove Bowles to a gravel pit near Owasso, where Miller shot and killed the property owner, Jerald Thurman. The two then drove Bowles a short distance away, where Hanson shot and killed Bowles, according to prosecutors.
Miller received a no-parole life prison sentence for his role in the crimes.
Hanson, who appeared before the board via a video link to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, expressed remorse for his involvement in the crimes and apologized to the families of the victims.
'I'm not an evil person,' Hanson said. '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 Hanson 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 who suffered from autism spectrum disorder and who was controlled and manipulated by the domineering Miller.
They also presented testimony from prison employees at the U.S. Penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana, that Hanson was a well-respected inmate with a good work ethic and a history of helping staff and other prisoners.
Emma Rolls, the first assistant for the Federal Public Defender's office, described Hanson as 'a remorseful man who wants to do his time and stay away from mischief.'
But prosecutors and family members of the victims cast doubt on the sincerity of Hanson's remorse. Sara Mooney, Mary Bowles' niece, told the board Hanson never attempted to contact her in the last 26 years to apologize or offer an explanation for his role in the crimes.
'If anything, he regrets being caught,' said Assistant Attorney General Michel Trapasso.
Hanson was transferred to Oklahoma custody in March by federal officials following through on President Donald Trump's sweeping executive order to more actively support the death penalty.
Both Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and his predecessor, John O'Connor, had sought Hanson's transfer during President Joe Biden's administration, but the U.S. Bureau of Prisons denied it, saying the transfer was not in the public interest.
'The Biden administration protected this monster from justice for too long,' Drummond told the board.
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