Gov. Kevin Stitt granted clemency for Tremane Wood, who has been on Oklahoma's death row for more than two decades.
Stitt announced his decision Thursday morning, shortly before the execution was scheduled to take place. It's the second time Stitt has granted clemency during his nearly seven years in office.
"After a thorough review of the facts and prayerful consideration, I have chosen to accept the Pardon and Parole Board's recommendation to commute Tremane Wood's sentence to life without parole," Stitt said in a news release.
The Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Wood earlier this month, citing possible prosecutorial misconduct and an ineffective trial attorney who was struggling with substance abuse.
Wood, 46, was sentenced to death for the 2002 stabbing of Ronnie Wipf during a robbery at an Oklahoma City motel. His older brother, Zjaiton "Jake" Wood, was given life in prison without the possibility of parole in a separate trial. Zjaiton admitted to stabbing Wipf and later committed suicide in prison in 2019.
Wood and his attorneys maintain his innocence. Wood told the board he wished he'd stepped in, but he wasn't the one who killed Wipf.
"I'm not a monster," Wood said during the clemency hearing via video conference from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. "I'm not a killer. I never was and I never have been."
To make a decision, Stitt said he met with the defendant's attorneys, the attorney general's office and the victim's family.
"This action reflects the same punishment his brother received for their murder of an innocent young man and ensures a severe punishment that keeps a violent offender off the streets forever," Stitt wrote in his announcement to side with the board. "In Oklahoma, we will continue to hold accountable those who commit violent crimes, delivering justice, safeguarding our communities, and respecting the rule of law. I pray for the family of Ronnie Wipf and for the surviving victim, Arnie; they are models of Christian forgiveness and love."
Wipf's family and the surviving victim from the robbery, Arnold Kleinsasser, declined to be part of the clemency hearing. The board reserves time for victims to share the impact a decision will have on their family.
"Not a day goes by in my life that I do not think about Ronnie and how much his mom and dad are suffering because they don't have their son anymore," Wood said during the clemency hearing.
Stitt has granted clemency once before during the high-profile case of Julius Jones in 2021, but had rejected clemency recommendations for four other men. A total of 16 men have been executed during his tenure.
