|
 Michael Lee Wilson, 38, was pronounced dead at 6:06 p.m. U.S.
Central Time (2406 GMT), according to a spokesman for the Oklahoma
prison system.
In his last words, Wilson said: "I just want to say I love
everybody. Free is free. I love the world. Love my daughters for me.
I will miss you always. I feel my whole body is burning," according
to spokesman Jerry Massie.
The execution was witnessed by the victim's family and Wilson's
relatives at a prison in McAlester, where Oklahoma has its death
chamber.
Wilson, 38, was the first person put to death this year in Oklahoma
and the second person executed in 2014 in the United States,
according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which tracks the
use of capital punishment.
Wilson was one of four men found guilty of murdering 30-year-old
Richard Yost, who was bound and beaten to death inside the
convenience store's cooler.
Two of those convicted for the murder have already been executed and
the fourth was sentenced to life without parole.
According to court documents, Wilson, Darwin Demond Brown, Billy Don
Alverson and Richard Harjo entered the QuikTrip convenience store in
the morning of February 26, 1995. Wilson was a co-worker of the
victim.
The men surrounded Yost and dragged him into a cooler. They
handcuffed him and bound his ankles.
[to top of second column] |
Security tapes show the men then left the store and returned with an
aluminum baseball bat. The tapes recorded the sounds of Yost being
beaten. An autopsy report said pieces of the handcuffs were embedded
in the victim's head.
While Yost was being beaten, Wilson put on his QuikTrip uniform and
removed the safe in the store. He also waited on customers.
Brown and Alverson were executed in 2009 and 2011, respectively.
Harjo, 16 at the time of the crime, was sentenced to life in prison
without the possibility of parole.
For his last meal, Wilson had a pizza, pomegranate and candy bar.
(Reporting by Heide Brandes; writing by Jon Herskovitz;
editing by
Leslie Adler)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
