Panel denies clemency for Oklahoma killer

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Wednesday voted 3-2 to decline to recommend clemency for Tulsa County killer John Fitzgerald Hanson.

Hanson, also known as George John Hanson, is set to die June 12 by lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

He was sentenced to death for the 1999 shooting death of Mary Bowles, 77, a retired bank executive whom he and his accomplice, Victor Miller, abducted from a Tulsa mall. Bowles was shot four to six times and found at a dirt pit near Owasso. 

A bystander, Jerald Thurman, was also killed.

“Now is the time for him to atone for the pain and suffering he has wrought,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. “Justice will be delivered when the death penalty is rightly served on June 12.”

Hanson was homeless, developmentally disabled and didn’t get a fair shot at presenting mitigating evidence, said Callie Heller, his attorney.

“As of today, three jurors have come forward with concerns about their death verdict after learning the facts they never heard at trial,” she said.

Hanson has expressed remorse and taken responsibility for his role in the crime, she said.

A more culpable defendant is serving life, she said.

Hanson, who was imprisoned for an unrelated crime in Louisiana, was transferred in March to Oklahoma so his execution could be carried out.

The transfer had previously been blocked by the Democrat Joe Biden’s administration, but Republican Donald Trump’s administration cleared the way for Hanson’s transfer back to Oklahoma.

Editor’s note: This story was corrected at 9:37 p.m. Wednesday to reflect that the name of Hanson’s accomplice is Victor Miller.