Oklahoma 2005

Sentenced to death in Canadian County in Oklahoma

By: A Jury

Date of crime: 10/18/2003

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Eizember beat to death 76-year-old A.J. Cantrell and fatally shot Patsy Cantrell, 70. Eizember entered their home when the Cantrells were away, but they returned to their home to find Eizember there with a shotgun. Cantrell was beaten with the butt of his own shotgun. Eizember admitted killing Mr. Cantrell, but he denied shooting Mrs. Cantrell. The defense argued that Eizember had a difficult childhood and suffered from depression. Eizember had also been found guilty of shooting with intent to kill his ex-girlfriend’s 16-year-old son, Tyler Montgomery, and had also beaten his ex-girlfriend’s mother, Karla Wright. Defense attorneys argued that Eizember had not planned to kill the Cantrells, but instead went into their home to spy on the home across the street where his ex-girlfriend, Katherine Biggs, was staying. When he fled from the Cantrell’s home, Eizember stole a vehicle and drove to Arkansas where he allegedly kidnapped a doctor and his wife at gunpoint and forced them to drive him to Texas.

Prosecutor(s): Mike Loeffler Defense Lawyer(s): Tim Laughlin

Sources: Muskogee Daily Phoenix & Times Democrat 2/24/05, 2/25/05, 2/26/05, 3/25/05; The Tulsa World 2/23/05

Sentenced to death in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

By: A jury

Date of crime: 12/12/1982

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Fisher was sent to death row for a 1983 murder, but he was granted a new trial in 2002. Fisher was uncooperative with his counsel. Fisher tried to convince jurors that he was not competent to stand trial. Fisher killed Terry Neal, 20, who was seeking a homosexual prostitute. Fadjo Johnson, a homosexual prostitute who was 15 at the time, testified at the first trial that the three of them went to Neal’s apartment where Fisher had sex with Neal and then killed him. At the second trial, a witness said Fisher and Neal were fighting and Fisher slammed a bottle over Neal’s head and then used the broken bottle to stab Neal in the neck.

Prosecutor(s): Angela Wright, Fern Smith

Defense lawyer(s): Craig Corgan, Matthew Haire, Mark Clayborne

Sources: Fisher v. State, 736 P.2d 1003 (Okla. Crim. App. 1987); The Daily Oklahoman 6/13/03, 4/15/05, 4/29/05 (LEXIS USPAPR file).

Sentenced to death in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

By: A jury

Date of crime: July 18, 2001

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Grant needed money to bail his girlfriend out of jail.  He robbed the La Quinta Inn, and in the process killed the manager Brenda McElyea, and the desk clerk Felecia Smith.

Prosecutor(s): Suzanne Lister

Defense lawyer(s): Perry Hudson

Sources: The Oklahoman, 11/24/05 (LexisNexis news database)

Sentenced to death in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

By: A jury

Date of crime: 9/1/1999

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Harris shot Merle Taylor, 63, twice in the back as Taylor was trying to protect his daughter-in-law and Harris’ ex-wife. Harris was convicted and sentenced to die for killing Taylor, and was sentenced again to death in a re-sentencing trial. Harris was also convicted of beating and shooting his estranged wife, who survived, during a separate altercation. Harris admitted to the shootings.

Prosecutor(s): Wes Lane, Connie Pope

Defense lawyer(s): Unknown

Sources: Daily Oklahoman 10/24/2001, 10/4/2002, 2/1/2005 (LEXIS USPAPR file).

Sentenced to death in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

By: A jury

Date of crime: 4/12/2003

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Jones’ girlfriend had an argument with him by telephone about his drinking. Shortly thereafter he burst into the home where she was staying and began firing, killing Joel Platt, Pamela Karr and Brian Galindo. He also injured two other people. Jones claimed self defense.

Prosecutor(s): Sandra Elliott, Cassandra Williams

Defense lawyer(s): Tom Kite

Sources: Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) 4/16/2003, 4/26/2003, 11/22/2003, 5/20/2005 (LEXIS USPAPR file).

Sentenced to death in Tulsa County, Oklahoma

By:  A jury

Date of Crime:  May 24, 2004

Prosecution’s Case/Defense Response:  Wade Lay, along with his son Christopher, were convicted of first degree murder in the shootout that took place while they were trying to rob a bank.  In the 30 second robbery, the bank’s security guard was shot and killed.  Wade Lay was the shooter, his son the accomplice.  Lay, who defended himself at trial, stated that he armed himself  “in resistance to tyranny.”  He also stated that although the robbery was his son’s idea, he took full blame for the death and wished that the execution could be carried out the next day.

Sources: Tulsa World 10/2/05, 10/25/05, 12/16/05; Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) 10/11/05, 10/25/05 (all available in Lexis New Library USPAPR file)

Sentenced to death in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

By: A jury

Date of crime: 3/19/2002

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Littlejohn participated in a carjacking at a convenience store that resulted in the death of Gregory Rogers, Jr., 22. Rogers was shot in the back by one of Littlejohn’s three co-defendants when Rogers tried to run away from the four men attempting to steal his car. The defense contested guilt by arguing that Littlejohn did not get out of the car at the scene of the crime and hadn’t planned a murder. During the penalty phase, the defense argued that Littlejohn did not fire the shot that killed Rogers and Littlejohn should be spared because his actions were a result of no parental guidance and a drug addiction. The prosecution argued that Littlejohn deserved no sympathy because he handed his gun to the shooter, making himself an integral part of the killing. The prosecution also pointed to the testimony that the victim was killed because he had seen a defendant’s face, arguing that the defendant was a continuing threats to society.

Prosecutor(s): Sandra Elliott, Gayland Gieger Defense Lawyer(s): John Albert, Mike McBride, George Miskovsky III

Sources: The Daily Oklahoman 2/2/05, 1/25/05, 4/8/04, 1/18/03, 1/9/03, 1/8/03, 1/7/03, 9/21/02, 5/3/02, 4/27/02, 4/26/02

Sentenced to death in Seminole County, Oklahoma

By: A judge after waiver of a jury

Date of crime: 3/2/04

Prosecution’s case/defense response: In an ongoing dispute between family members and acquaintances, Magnan and two others were involved in shooting four people, three of whom died.  Magnan waived a jury, pleaded guilty, admitted to shooting all four of the victims with intent to kill, and asked to be sentenced to death.  In later appellate litigation Magnan claimed the murders had occurred in Indian country, and thus were only properly subject to federal jurisdiction, not to jurisdiction in Oklahoma state court.  He lost this claim, but one judge of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with this contention.

Prosecutor(s):

Defense lawyer(s):

Sources: Magnan v. State, 207 P.3d 397 (Okla. Crim. App. 2009)

Sentenced to death in Comanche County, Oklahoma

By: A jury

Date of crime: 12/26/2003

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Malone shot Nikky Green, a 35-year-old State Trooper, twice in the back of the head execution style. Malone was operating a meth lab in his vehicle when Green pulled him over. Malone seized Green’s gun in a struggle and shot Green with his own weapon. Part of the struggle was caught on Green’s dashboard video camera. The defense argued Malone was in a drugged stupor and didn’t know what he was doing; Malone said he thought that he was being robbed, and said voices in his head instructed him to kill Green. The defense also argued that the drug use interfered with his ability to have performed the murder with the requisite intent of first-degree murder.

Prosecutor(s): Robert Schulte

Defense lawyer(s): Cheryl Ramsey, Don Gutteridge

Sources: PEOPLE 2/16/2004 (2004 WLNR 17903848); The Daily Oklahoman 5/19/2005 (LEXIS USPAPR file); Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times Democrat 5/20/2005 (2005 WLNR 8061757).