Oklahoma Inmate John Hanson Set for Execution After Legal Battles Involving Biden and Trump Administrations

John Hanson, a 61-year-old Oklahoma death row inmate, faces execution by lethal injection on Thursday for his role in the 1999 murder of Mary Agnes Bowles, 77, following a series of legal challenges and political interventions.

Hanson and an accomplice, Victor Miller, kidnapped Bowles from a Tulsa mall on August 3, 1999, and later killed her. The pair also murdered Jerald Thurman, a witness to the crime.

At a recent clemency hearing, Hanson expressed remorse, stating, "I can't change the past. I would if I could." His fate has been subject to intense legal scrutiny, including a temporary stay of execution that was ultimately overturned by a higher court.

The execution is scheduled for 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, June 12, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. If carried out, it will mark the 23rd execution in the U.S. this year and the third in a string of four executions this week.

The crime occurred when Mary Bowles was abducted from the Promenade Mall in Tulsa. Hanson and Miller forced her into her car at gunpoint and drove her to a secluded area near a dirt pit. When Jerald Thurman, the pit's owner, approached the vehicle, Miller shot him multiple times, fatally wounding him.

According to court records, Bowles, still in the back of the car, pleaded with her captors, asking if they had loved ones. Hanson then allegedly punched her. The two men subsequently forced Bowles out of the car and Hanson shot her repeatedly, resulting in her death. Her body was discovered more than a week later.

Following the murders, Hanson and Miller continued a crime spree, robbing a video store and a bank. They were apprehended after Miller's wife reported them to authorities.

Miller was sentenced to life in prison, while Hanson received the death penalty. Hanson's legal team argues that Miller later claimed responsibility for shooting Bowles, creating "a disturbing miscarriage of justice."

Hanson has claimed that Miller was the primary instigator of the violence. "I was caught in a situation I couldn't control," he said at the clemency hearing. "Things were happening so fast, and at the spur of the moment, due to my lack of decisiveness and fear, I responded incorrectly, and two people lost their lives."

Mary Bowles was remembered as a devoted volunteer and beloved member of her community. Hundreds attended her funeral, attesting to her impact on the lives of those around her.

Bowles volunteered extensively at a local hospital, dedicating over 11,000 hours to the neonatal unit. "She was such a gentle person," said hospital director Beverly Farrell. "I can't imagine her offering resistance to anyone." Bowles, who never married, treated her nieces and nephews as her own children. She also had a lifelong passion for music and travel.

The timing of Hanson's execution has been complicated by shifts in presidential administrations. While serving a life sentence in Louisiana for unrelated federal crimes, Hanson's execution was initially scheduled for December 15, 2022. The Biden administration blocked his transfer to Oklahoma, consistent with the president's opposition to capital punishment.

However, upon entering office, President Trump reversed this policy, reinstating federal executions. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond then requested Hanson's transfer, which was granted by the Department of Justice.

"For the family and friends of Mary Bowles, the wait for justice has been a long and frustrating one," Drummond stated after Hanson's transfer.

Hanson's execution faced further uncertainty when an Oklahoma judge granted a stay based on allegations of bias against a member of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. The judge cited the board member's prior involvement as a prosecutor in Tulsa County during Hanson's resentencing. However, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the stay, clearing the way for the execution to proceed.

Hanson's attorney, Emma Rolls, expressed concern that the appeals court's decision deprived her client of his constitutional rights. "No person facing execution should have to plead for mercy in front of a decisionmaker with direct ties to their prosecution," she said.