Underwood was sentenced to death in 2008 for murdering Jamie Bolin in Purcell two years earlier. According to Underwood’s confession, he lured Bolin into his house, beat her over the head, attempted to decapitate her and stashed her body in a plastic tub with hopes of later eating it.
The state originally scheduled Underwood’s execution for Dec. 2023, as part of its aggressive plan to carry out executions every 60 days. The state has since slowed down that timeline to address stress among Department of Corrections employees.
But since Emmanuel Littlejohn was executed by lethal injection on Sep. 26, Underwood is next on the list. Within a week, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set Underwood’s execution date at the request of Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
Underwood has exhausted his standard opportunities for appeal but has asked the state to delay his execution until the Oklahoma Supreme Court decides a lawsuit in which he claims the state’s death penalty is unconstitutional because it gives too many options for the method of killing.
Underwood’s clemency hearing is set for Dec. 4. Unless the Pardon and Parole Board recommends clemency and Gov. Kevin Stitt approves it, Underwood will be killed by lethal injection on Dec. 19. By coincidence, that’s also his 45th birthday.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
