A 61-year-old man convicted of a brutal double murder in 1999 was executed by lethal injection on Thursday in Oklahoma, marking the third execution in the United States this week.
John Hanson was put to death at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to a statement from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Hanson had been convicted of carjacking and kidnapping 77-year-old Mary Bowles from a Tulsa shopping mall before fatally shooting her and a witness, Jerald Thurman.
At the time of his transfer to Oklahoma, Hanson had been serving a life sentence for bank robbery in Louisiana. The Trump administration approved his transfer to face capital punishment, aligning with former President Donald Trump’s strong support for the death penalty. On his first day in office, Trump had called for an expanded use of executions for what he termed “the vilest crimes.”
Hanson’s execution followed two others earlier in the week. On Tuesday, Alabama executed Gregory Hunt, 65, using nitrogen gas, a controversial method that has drawn criticism from human rights groups. Hunt was convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of his girlfriend, Karen Lane. The same day, Florida executed 54-year-old Anthony Wainwright by lethal injection for the 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart, a young nursing student and mother of two.
A fourth execution is scheduled for Friday in South Carolina, where Stephen Stanko, 57, is set to be executed by lethal injection. Stanko was convicted of the 2005 murders of his girlfriend, Laura Ling, and their friend, Henry Turner.
So far in 2025, the U.S. has carried out 22 executions: 17 by lethal injection, two by firing squad, and three by nitrogen hypoxia, a method condemned by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.
While capital punishment remains legal in 24 U.S. states, it has been abolished in 23, with California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania enforcing moratoriums on its use.
Written By Rodney Mbua
