a day ago
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.
