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Spiritual advisor walks from McAlester to State Capitol in support of death row inmate

The entrance to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary is pictured in McAlester, Okla, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014
Sue Ogrocki
/
AP

The spiritual advisor for an Oklahoma death row inmate scheduled for execution next week completed a more than 120 mile walk to deliver a letter to Gov. Kevin Stitt asking for a 60-day reprieve.

Rev. Jeff Hood, the spiritual advisor for death row inmate Anthony Sanchez, began a walk from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester to the State Capitol on Friday and arrived on Wednesday morning.

Hood delivered a letter from Sanchez and a petition signed by nearly 14,000 people asking for Gov. Stitt to grant him a 60-day reprieve.

Sanchez was found guilty in the 1996 murder of Juli Busken based on DNA evidence, but he has maintained his innocence and claims his late father committed the crime.

Republican State Rep. Justin Humphrey requested Attorney General Gentner Drummond reprocess the DNA evidence last month, but Drummond denied his request and said the DNA has already been reprocessed and the results overwhelmingly support Sanchez’s guilt.

Sanchez forwent his clemency hearing and is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 21.

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Hannah France joined KGOU as a reporter in 2021, shortly after earning a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. In 2023, Hannah was the first place recipient of the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists' Radio Outstanding Reporter Portfolio award. Hannah reports on a variety of topics including criminal justice, housing, and labor rights and is dedicated to educating and empowering Oklahomans through community storytelling.
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