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Credit Oklahoma Department of Corrections
Public safety and corrections officials answered questions Tuesday from Oklahoma lawmakers on the planned closing of William S. Key Correctional Center in Fort Supply.
The plan was hastily announced two weeks ago after the Woodward News learned of it. According to the Department of Corrections, there are currently 414 inmates at the prison, not even 40% of its capacity. And it s a 19th Century facility in need of more than $30 million in repairs with annual costs upwards of $15 million. There were also more than 700 available minimum-security beds across rest of our system. In short, the beds at William S. Key were no longer needed, Secretary of Public Safety Tricia Everest told lawmakers.
Credit Oklahoma Department of Corrections
After six hours of deliberations Monday, a federal jury found former Tulsa Police officer Shannon Kepler guilty on charges related to the 2014 killing of his daughter s 19-year-old boyfriend.
Prosecutors charged Kepler in a three-count indictment in November. The jury on Monday found Kepler not guilty of first-degree murder but guilty of discharging a firearm during and in relation to crimes of violence, which were second-degree murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. The assault charge is for shooting at Jeremy Lake s younger brother.
U.S. Marshals took Kepler into custody after the verdict was announced. He will be sentenced Aug. 11.
Credit Oklahoma Department of Corrections
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) An Oklahoma man’s murder convictions and death sentence have been overturned following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that much of eastern Oklahoma remains an American Indian reservation.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday reversed the decisions against Shaun Bosse, 38, because the crimes occurred on land within the Chickasaw Nation’s historic reservation and the victims were Native American.
Bosse was convicted and sentenced to death in the 2010 killings of Katrina Griffin and her two young children. The victims were found inside a burning mobile home near Dibble, about 35 miles south of Oklahoma City.
Last week, a Pontotoc County District Court judge ordered Tommy Ward be released from prison. The order is the latest in a string of decisions rebuking the convictions of Ward and Karl Fontenot for an infamous 1984 murder documented in two books and a recent Netflix documentary. But now, Ward’s release has been blocked by the state Attorney General’s Office.
Tommy Ward
Credit Oklahoma Department of Corrections
The judge found Tommy Ward didn’t get a fair trial. She said police and prosecutors withheld evidence that would have assisted Ward’s defense.
The judge also called the evidence against Ward circumstantial and said nearly all of the details in his confession were inaccurate. She decided to vacate Ward’s conviction and life sentence, and ordered his release. She doesn’t believe he could be given a fair trial after more than 30 years.