Tremane Wood's Life Spared Just Minutes Before His Scheduled Execution
Tremane Wood Granted Clemency Minutes Before Being Executed
Published
Tremane Wood must be taking a huge breath of fresh air right about now -- because he was granted clemency just minutes before his scheduled execution.
The inmate -- who's been imprisoned at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester for over two decades -- was about to be put to death Thursday when the procedure was stopped by the Governor Kevin Stitt, according to the Associated Press.
Stitt accepted the Oklahoma prison and parole board's recommendation to have Wood's sentence commuted to life in prison without parole. Stitt has only granted clemency to a prisoner only once during his tenure as governor.
What's also interesting is the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from Wood's lawyer to stay the execution.
Wood was convicted of felony murder in the 2002 death of Ronnie Wipf during an unsuccessful robbery. Wood's attorneys maintained his brother Zjaiton was the one who'd killed Wipf.
Zjaiton, who was sentenced to life without parole for his role in the murder, died in prison in 2019. He apparently admitted to being the one who'd stabbed Wipf to several individuals prior to his death.
Stitt issued a statement regarding the stopped execution, and he described Wood's new sentence as "a severe punishment" which would serve to keep the prisoner, whom he described as a "violent offender," away from the public.
