Oklahoma executes third death row inmate of 2023
Sep. 21—A man sentenced to death for the 1996 rape and murder of a University of Oklahoma dance student was executed Thursday at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Anthony Sanchez was the state's third executed death row inmate of 2023 and the 10th person killed by Oklahoma since the state resumed executions in October 2021 following a nearly seven-year moratorium.
Sanchez, 44, was executed by lethal injection Thursday for the 1996 death of 21-year-old Juli Busken. Her body was found at Lake Stanley Draper near Oklahoma City. Investigators said Busken was bound, raped, and shot in the head.
A Cleveland County jury convicted Sanchez during a trial in 2006 after his DNA was found on clothing at the scene belonging to Busken. The death row inmate was connected to Busken's murder after Sanchez was imprisoned for burglary and his provided DNA to the state matched the DNA found at the crime scene.
Supporters claimed that Sanchez's father committed the crime and asked for the DNA to be reexamined. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied a motion for a new hearing over the argument with the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office denying a request made by an Oklahoma lawmaker.
The current was raised to the death chamber at 10:07 a.m. and an official from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections read Sanchez's death warrant. No members of the Busken family were present in the witness room.
Sanchez's last words were "I'm innocent. I didn't kill nobody. Mark Barrett and Randy Crone are the worst lawyers ever in the state of Oklahoma." He then went on to thank everybody who had supported him along with his spiritual advisor, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, and the anti-death penalty group Death Penalty Action for helping in his case.
Jamison Keefover, with Fox 25 in Oklahoma City, said Sanchez's aunt, Lawanda Elles, who was present in the witness room, waived at Sanchez after he said his last words.
The execution began at 10:08 a.m. and Hood was allowed to touch Sanchez's foot and continued to communicate with Hood through 10:10 a.m. Sanchez appeared to have hitched breathing with slight head movements until he became still and a doctor at 10:14 a.m. declared him unconscious. Sanchez was heard snoring when the microphone was turned on to announce his unconsciousness.
Ashlynd Huffaman, a reporter for CNHI Oklahoma, said Sanchez's hand was shaking up until the point he became unconscious.
At 10:15 a.m. a member of the execution medical team entered the chamber and appeared to reattach a medical sensor which prison officials said was a pulse oximeter. The color began to drain from Sanchez's face at 10:17 a.m. with the doctor coming in two minutes later to check for signs of life and declaring Sanchez dead at 10:19 a.m.
Following the conclusion of the execution, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond reached over and placed his hand on Elles' shoulder after she became visibly upset and told her "Sorry for your family's loss."
At a press conference following the execution, Drummond said he stood there on behalf of the state of Oklahoma and the Busken family and said he visited the family numerous times over the last nine months.
"Juli was murdered 26 years, nine months, and one day ago," Drummond said. "The family has found closure and peace. We pray that God will grant that on a continuing basis."
Sanchez waived his right to clemency in July with supporters asking Gov. Kevin Stitt to issue a 60-day reprieve to give attorneys time to look through evidence.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied staying the execution Thursday morning after a federal district judge first declined the stay last week after his attorneys requested more time to shift through the evidence that was first provided to them in August.
Oklahoma's next execution is scheduled for Nov. 30 for Phillip Dean Hancock. Hancock was sentenced to death on two counts of murder in Oklahoma County.
