Last-Minute Clemency Spares Oklahoma Death Row Inmate's Life
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In a dramatic turn of events, the life of Tremane Wood, a 46-year-old Oklahoma man on death row for a 2002 murder, was spared at the last minute when Governor Kevin Stitt granted him clemency. Wood was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, but the governor intervened just minutes before the scheduled time, commuting his sentence to life without parole. The decision came after the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Wood by a 3-2 vote on November 5. Wood was convicted of murdering 19-year-old Ronnie Wipf during a robbery. However, in a twist, Wood's elder brother Jake, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, had confessed to being the one who stabbed Wipf to death. This development is significant in light of the recent increase in executions in the United States. With 41 executions carried out this year, the number has surpassed 2012's total of 43. The trend is expected to continue, with an execution scheduled to take place later Thursday in Florida and another on Friday in South Carolina. The use of the death penalty has been a topic of debate, with 23 of the 50 US states having abolished it. The United Nations has also denounced the use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment, calling it cruel and inhumane. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has expressed support for the expansion of capital punishment for the most heinous crimes.
