WASHINGTON (AFP) – An Oklahoma man convicted of a double murder was put to death by lethal injection in the United States (US) state of Oklahoma on Thursday and final execution to be carried out in the US this year.
Phillip Hancock, 59, was executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Corrections said.
He had been sentenced to death for the April 2001 murders of Robert Jett and James Lynch, members of a biker gang.
Though the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board had recommended that Hancock – who claimed he had acted in self-defence – be granted clemency, it was denied by Governor Kevin Stitt.
Hancock claimed he shot Jett and Lynch during a struggle after they tried to force him into a cage at Jett’s Oklahoma City residence.
Shawn Nolan, one of Hancock’s attorneys, denounced the governor for ignoring the clemency recommendation from the parole board.
“We are profoundly sad that Oklahoma executed Phil for protecting himself from a violent attack,” Nolan said in a statement.
