logo
Former Oklahoma pharmacist convicted of murder moved to medical facility

Former Oklahoma pharmacist convicted of murder moved to medical facility

Yahoo06-03-2025
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A former Oklahoma pharmacist who is now spending life in prison for murder was moved to a medical facility.
Jerome Ersland is serving a life sentence after being convicted of murdering a teen during a robbery at Reliable Pharmacy in 2009.
Video surveillance of the robbery shows Ersland shooting the teen before leaving the store to chase a second suspect involved. He would return to the store and shoot the teen five more times.
Commutation denied for Oklahoma pharmacist convicted of murder
Last month, Ersland went before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to ask for his sentence to be commuted. In the commutation application, Ersland said he wanted to spend time with his family before he dies.
I will die in prison as I am 72 years old…and not eligible for parole until I'm 100. I would like to see my other two children before I die. I will never commit any other crime. I'd move back to my hometown and spend time with family and friends.
Written statement on Jerome Ersland's communtation application
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has confirmed that he has been moved to a prison medical facility. Due to HIPAA Privacy Laws, the department cannot say why.
Ersland is not eligible for parole until 2049.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Oklahoma executes John Fitzgerald Hanson for 1999 murder of elderly Tulsa woman
Oklahoma executes John Fitzgerald Hanson for 1999 murder of elderly Tulsa woman

Yahoo

time12-06-2025

  • Yahoo

Oklahoma executes John Fitzgerald Hanson for 1999 murder of elderly Tulsa woman

McALESTER — A convicted murderer has been executed in Oklahoma as a direct result of President Donald Trump's return to office. John Fitzgerald Hanson, 61, was pronounced dead at 10:11 a.m. Thursday, June 12, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. He had been scheduled for execution on Dec. 15, 2022, but the Biden administration refused to return him to Oklahoma from a federal prison in Louisiana. The transfer went through on March 1, weeks after Trump began his second term. He was executed for the fatal shooting of Mary Agnes Bowles, who was kidnapped from the parking lot of a Tulsa mall on Aug. 31, 1999. The victim was 77. Hanson and an accomplice, Victor Miller, wanted the retired banker's car for a robbery spree. Hanson has always denied being the shooter, his attorneys said. Hanson had been serving a life sentence, plus 82 years, at the U.S. Penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana, for federal crimes involving the robbery spree. Oklahoma's attorney general, Gentner Drummond, sought Hanson's transfer after Trump issued an executive order on his first day back in office "restoring" the death penalty. "It is the policy of the United States to ensure that the laws that authorize capital punishment are respected and faithfully implemented, and to counteract the politicians and judges who subvert the law by obstructing and preventing the execution of capital sentences," Trump stated in his order. President Joe Biden opposed the death penalty. In December, he commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row. The execution Thursday was the 17th in Oklahoma since lethal injections resumed in October 2021 after a long hiatus brought about by drug mix-ups and botched procedures. It was the third in the United States this week. A fourth execution is scheduled for Friday in South Carolina. The retired banker was from Tulsa. She was kidnapped after walking at the Promenade Mall for exercise. She had done volunteer work earlier that day at a Tulsa hospital in the intensive care unit for babies. The two men took her in her car to a dirt pit near Owasso. There, the accomplice shot Jerald Thurman, the owner of the dirt pit, after he spotted them on his property, according to trial testimony. Thurman died about two weeks later. Hanson shot Bowles four to six times in a ditch near the dirt pit. Her body wasn't found for days. The stolen Buick broke down after the two men went to a motel in Tulsa. They abandoned the car there. Hanson also was convicted of the dirt pit owner's murder and sentenced for that crime to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The accomplice, Miller, was given life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders after death sentences were thrown out on appeal. He is now 62. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 on May 7 to deny Hanson clemency. The vote meant Gov. Kevin Stitt could not consider commuting his sentence. At his clemency hearing, he told the board members he was not an evil person. "I haven't lived my life inclined to do wrong," he said. "I was caught in a situation I couldn't control. Things were happening so fast, and at the spur of the moment, due to my lack of decisiveness and fear, I responded incorrectly, and two people lost their lives. "I can't change the past, and I would if I could." His attorneys and death penalty opponents said he was autistic and easily manipulated. His attorneys also contended there was overwhelming evidence that the accomplice was the one who actually shot Bowles. Hanson did not testify at his 2001 trial in Tulsa County District Court. He also did not testify at a 2006 resentencing trial. More: 'A remarkable development': States expanding their execution methods to firing squad, more His attorneys tried to stop his execution, complaining in lawsuits about his transfer to Oklahoma and his clemency hearing. They also made a last-minute claim of newly discovered evidence about a key prosecution witness. An Oklahoma County judge granted Hanson a temporary stay on Monday so his lawsuit over his clemency hearing could be considered. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Wednesday the judge did not have that authority. The execution went forward after the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday denied his last requests for emergency stays. Hanson did not request anything special for his last meal Wednesday, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman said. He did get what was served other inmates − chicken pot pie, two rolls, two fruit cups and carrots. Witnessing the execution were reporters for The Oklahoman, The Associated Press, the Tulsa World, a Tulsa television station and the online news site NonDoc. A storm that produced a tornado Saturday caused damage to the warden's mansion at the penitentiary when a massive tree fell. The mansion was already under renovation. The storm downed trees across McAlester and knocked a wall off one brick building. The street in front of the building was still closed Thursday. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: John Fitzgerald Hanson executed in Oklahoma, a result of Trump's win

Oklahoma judge sentences 'Chiefsaholic' in Tulsa robbery
Oklahoma judge sentences 'Chiefsaholic' in Tulsa robbery

Yahoo

time13-05-2025

  • Yahoo

Oklahoma judge sentences 'Chiefsaholic' in Tulsa robbery

TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma judge added more prison time to a well-known Chiefs fan known as 'Chiefsaholic' and for his string of robberies across the country to fund his obsession with the Super Bowl team. On Monday, Xavier Babudar, 30, was sentenced to 34 years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Both his state and his 17.5-year federal sentence will run together. Upon completing his federal sentence, he will serve 14.5 years in the Oklahoma prison system. Babudar's robbery spree over seven states enabled him to purchase expensive tickets to Kansas City Chiefs games and cultivate a large online following as 'Chiefsaholic,' a knockoff of the Chiefs' official mascot, K.C. Wolf. The Chief's Superfan pleaded guilty in Tulsa District Court to robbery with a dangerous weapon and assault while masked or disguised in connection with a 2022 robbery of the Tulsa Teachers Federal Credit Union in Bixby, Oklahoma. He also pleaded to remove an electronic monitoring device. The Kansas City Chiefs Superfan confessed to holding the bank employee at gunpoint and ordered her to open the vault, while he stole $139,000. Payton Garcia, the victim of the robbery, filed a civil suit against Babudar and was awarded $1.6 million for losses, $2 million for emotional damages, and $7.2 million in punitive damages. He is currently serving a 17-year federal sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., for a string of robberies in seven states that funded his obsession with the Kansas City Chiefs. Babudar's attorney asked for 22 years, saying, 'Babudar pleaded guilty to all counts and is taking responsibility for his actions. He is extremely remorseful and is fully prepared to serve his sentence and work to rehabilitate himself from his transgressions,' court records show. According to a brief filed in May, Tulsa prosecutors countered the 22-year sentence with a life sentence: 'This Court lacks any legitimate evidence of rehabilitative intent; it only has evidence of propensity to recidivate. At 29 years of age, Babudar's youth suggests a long recidivism risk.' Babudar made a 'mockery of Oklahoma law on a national stage when he exploited the court's bond leniency to resume his crime spree.' OKLAHOMA STATE'S BRIEF AS TO SENTENCING 'His disregard for Oklahoma law deepened as he committed two additional bank robberies while a fugitive: specifically, the robbery of Heritage Bank in Sparks, Nevada, and the robbery of U.S. Bank in El Dorado Hills, California,' the brief states. 'He engaged in these crimes with similar violent tactics- terrorizing bank employees through the threat of a weapon,' the state continued. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

19-year-old convicted for 2023 Oklahoma State Fair shooting
19-year-old convicted for 2023 Oklahoma State Fair shooting

Yahoo

time09-05-2025

  • Yahoo

19-year-old convicted for 2023 Oklahoma State Fair shooting

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A 19-year-old man has been convicted for a shooting that took place at the Oklahoma State Fair in September 2023. The Oklahoma County jury found 19-year-old Canaan Jenkins guilty on Friday after being arrested and charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon for a shooting that occurred at the 2023 Oklahoma State Fair. RELATED: 'Where am I safe?': OK State Fair confirms teen shooter didn't go through detector, officials still uncertain of how he got in During the State Fair on September 23, 2023, Oklahoma City Police were called to reports of a shooting at the Bennett Event Center. Upon arrival, officers found one victim with a gunshot wound. They were transported to a local hospital, where the victim was treated for the wound for three weeks before being released The suspect, Jenkins, had fled the scene after the shooting, but officers were able to find him and take him in for questioning at the Oklahoma City Police Department headquarters. RELATED: 'Something just came over me': 14-year-old performs life saving measure on OK State Fair shooting victim Jenkins had originally denied being the shooter but would eventually admit to the crime, claiming to be the suspect and that he fired his weapon in self-defense after a fight had happened, according to the release. The jury, after finding Jenkins to be guilty of the crime, sentenced him to eight years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. A formal sentencing is scheduled in court on June 30. Jenkins entered a blind plea for a conjoint robbery that happened on September 22, 2023, one day before the shooting at the State Fair. He could face anywhere from the minimum sentence of five years to a maximum of 50 years in prison. He will be sentenced for the conjoint robbery also on June 30. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store