MCALISTER, Oklahoma — Oklahoma executed Scott Eizember on Thursday, the first of 11 executions planned for 2023 — probably the most out of another state in the nation.
Eizember was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to loss of life for the murders of A.J. and Patsy Cantrell. Prosecutors mentioned Eizember broke into the Cantrell’s dwelling in order to spy on a home down the road, awaiting the return of his ex-girlfriend, Kathy Biggs.
Eizember mentioned in his ultimate assertion that he had a “completely” clear conscience and that he had “told the truth,” an obvious reference to his declare that Patsy Cantrell’s husband killed her unintentionally as he tried to shoot Eizember throughout a battle.
“The court also said I told the truth,” Eizember mentioned. “So for those people out there that don’t want to seem to tell the truth, that’s on them, that’s on their head.”
Eizember was pronounced useless at 10:15 a.m.
The case
Eizember described 76-year-old A.J. Cantrell as “stubborn as a mule” in accordance with courtroom paperwork. Eizember struggled with A.J. Cantrell and finally bludgeoned him to loss of life. He then coated him with the physique of his 70-year-old spouse who had been shot useless. Eizember admitted in courtroom that he didn’t know the Cantrells previous to breaking into their dwelling and killing them.
Eizember then shot Biggs’ teenage son, who survived, and beat Biggs’ mom. What adopted was a 37-day manhunt that noticed Eizember flee to Arkansas, take a health care provider and his household hostage and survive a gunshot wound earlier than finally being arrested in Texas. A prosecutor referred to as him “evil,” and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, on the time a federal appeals courtroom decide, mentioned in 2015 that Eizember had a mission to “settle a score” with Biggs and her household.
Eizember has admitted his guilt and he instructed the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board throughout a clemency listening to in December that he belonged in jail. “I’ve said that right from the start, and I apologize profusely to all the victims,” he mentioned.
The board voted 3-2 to disclaim Eizember clemency.
‘…a good day for victims…’
Justin Wyatt, a grandson of Patsy and A.J. Cantrell, instructed reporters Thursday that whereas it was “not a good day for everyone, it was a good day for victims.”
“Maybe today was a bookend for another day that happened almost 20 years ago,” he mentioned. “I do know that I’m glad our enemy is dead.”
Johnny Melton, nephew to the Cantrells, instructed reporters that Eizember’s loss of life was “justice,” and urged Oklahoma to take a extra critical take a look at home violence.
“It is the abuser who needs the help,” he mentioned. “They need it when they are young. By the time the victim needs help, it’s too late.”
Newly-elected Attorney General Gentner Drummond watched the execution from the witness chamber. He didn’t communicate with the media and left with members of the family of the Cantrells following their interviews. In a press release, he mentioned “justice is served.”
“I understand that nothing can ever lessen the pain of a loved one’s death, but I pray that today brings closure and some measure of peace to the Cantrell family,” Drummond mentioned.
Accompanied by non secular advisor
Eizember was accompanied Thursday by The Rev. Jeff Hood, his non secular advisor. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections initially barred Hood from attending the execution. The company mentioned in a press release that it feared Hood, who has been arrested for non-violent protests in different states in the previous, would present “a blatant disregard for the experiences of victims’ families and the solemnity of the process.”
Hood filed a grievance in federal courtroom which was settled Wednesday, permitting him to attend the execution in trade for agreeing to not disrupt the method, courtroom data present. The pastor was in a position to go to with Eizember Thursday morning and likewise witnessed his execution.
Hood, bald, with an extended brown beard and thick-rimmed black glasses, wore a black cloak and black scarf adorned with a black cross contained in the loss of life chamber. He spoke at size with Eizember, who appeared to go unconscious throughout their dialogue. He didn’t communicate with the media following the execution.
After the execution, Steven Harpe, the director of the Department of Corrections, referred to as Hood an “activist preacher” and spoke at size in regards to the tips Hood agreed to in order to be in the loss of life chamber in the course of the execution. A person clad in a blue ski masks stood subsequent to Hood in the course of the execution and his eyes by no means left the non secular advisor. There gave the impression to be no points with Hood in the course of the execution course of.
Anti-death-penalty assertion
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty issued a press release following the execution acknowledging Eizember’s troubled upbringing.
“Scott Eizember was a victim of domestic violence: his father routinely beat him as a child,” The Rev. Don Heath mentioned. “It began a senseless chain of violence that ended today. We hope that Eizember now knows the peace and wholeness that evaded him during his tragic life.”
Eizember was the first of 11 males Oklahoma has set to execute in 2023 and the eighth man put to loss of life because the state resumed executions in 2021. Oklahoma put 5 males to loss of life 2022, tying the state with Texas for probably the most executions in the nation.
Upcoming executions
Oklahoma’s subsequent scheduled execution is Richard Glossip on Feb. 16. It would be the state’s eighth attempt to place Glossip to loss of life. Glossip was convicted twice for the murder-for-hire of Oklahoma City motel proprietor Barry Van Treese — his first conviction in 1998 was thrown out attributable to ineffective help of counsel. Authorities have mentioned Glossip paid one other man, Justin Sneed, to kill Van Treese.
Sneed testified in opposition to Glossip and acquired a life with out parole sentence. Glossip, who says he’s harmless, was re-sentenced to loss of life in 2004. In 2017 a documentary, “Killing Richard Glossip,” was launched, detailing what it claimed have been issues surrounding the case and convictions. The documentary was finally referenced by former Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor, who mentioned in a courtroom submitting that it was slanted in favor of Glossip.
Glossip’s clemency listening to is tentatively set for Jan. 26.
Oklahoma executions since 2021
Oct. 28, 2021: John Marion Grant
Dec. 9, 2021: Bigler Jobe Stouffer II
Jan. 27, 2022: Donald Anthony Grant
Feb. 17, 2022: Gilbert Postelle
Aug. 25, 2022: James Allen Coddington
Oct. 20, 2022: Benjamin Cole
Nov. 17, 2022: Richard Fairchild
Jan. 12, 2023: Scott Eizember
Published in partnership with The Frontier, a nonprofit newsroom that produces fearless journalism with affect in Oklahoma. Read extra at www.readfrontier.org. Free Press publishes this report as a collaborative effort to offer the perfect protection of state points that have an effect on our readers.
Dylan Goforth is a founder and government editor of The Frontier. Contact: [email protected], 918-931-9405
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