The Oklahoma Department of Corrections on Thursday morning executed Anthony Sanchez for the 1996 killing of Jewell Busken, the third inmate to die by lethal injection in the state this year.
According to a report from the Associated Press (AP), Sanchez was pronounced dead at 10:19 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The 44-year-old Ardmore, Oklahoma, native maintained his innocence throughout his 17 years on death row, previously telling Newsweek in an exclusive interview in May, "I'm not a killer."
As he entered the death chamber Thursday, Sanchez again repeated, according to AP's report, "I'm innocent. I didn't kill nobody."
Busken, a 21-year-old ballerina from Benton, Arkansas, was abducted from her apartment complex parking lot on December 20, 1996, shortly after finishing her last semester at the University of Oklahoma. Her body was found later that evening near Lake Stanley Draper reservoir in Oklahoma City. Authorities said she had been bound, raped and shot in the back of the head.
The slaying remained unsolved until 2004, when Sanchez was linked to the killing through DNA samples recovered on Busken's clothes. He was convicted and sentenced to death row in 2006. At the time, Sanchez was an 18-year-old father and serving time in prison for second-degree burglary.
"I thought, this is all a mistake," Sanchez told Newsweek during a phone call in May. "I was in another prison and they took me out of that other prison and brought me down to this prison, two stories underground ... there's no sun, there's no windows, it's like [being] in a dungeon."
"It's like the whole world just crumbled because I was about to get out of prison and continue living my life," he added.
Sanchez's attorneys filed for an evidentiary hearing in April, claiming that they had evidence linking Sanchez's late father, Thomas Glen Sanchez, to Busken's murder. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the request. Charlotte Beattie, Thomas Sanchez's former girlfriend, previously told Newsweek that her ex, on multiple occasions, admitted to killing Busken.
Supporters of Sanchez have also disputed the DNA samples that linked him to the crime, reported The Oklahoman. In August, private investigator David Ballard, who was hired by Death Penalty Action, an anti-capital punishment group, announced during a news conference that the samples taken from Busken's clothes were a 30 percent match to Sanchez, adding, "That shouldn't happen, unless you're a family member."
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond responded in a letter to a lawmaker, saying that Ballard's statement about DNA findings of Sanchez and Busken as a 30 percent match "represents a gross misunderstanding of DNA kinship testing" and is "without merit," according to The Oklahoman.
"(Anthony) Sanchez counted 9 alleles shared by both himself and Ms. Busken," Drummond wrote. "As the DNA profiles in this case each contain 30 alleles, Mr. Sanchez divided 9 by 30 to conclude that, according to the profiles, he and Ms. Busken must be 30% related. Because Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Busken are not related, Mr. Sanchez insists there is a problem with the DNA samples."
However, "It is common for unrelated individuals to share alleles," Drummond added.
In June, Sanchez rejected his chance for a clemency hearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, an unusual step for death row inmates. In a telephone interview with AP at the time, Sanchez said that even if the board were to recommend clemency, he had little faith that Governor Kevin Stitt would grant it.
"I've sat in my cell and I've watched inmate after inmate after inmate get clemency and get denied clemency," Sanchez said. "Either way, it doesn't go well for the inmates."
Sanchez's last meal before execution Thursday was chicken fried steak, fried okra, mashed potatoes, apple pie and ice cream, a roll and sweet iced tea, according to KFOR television station of Oklahoma City. "I probably won't be able to eat it, to tell you the truth, he told KFOR on Tuesday. "If this is what makes the Buskens happy and able to move on, I'm happy for 'em. But I'm innocent. I didn't kill their daughter."
In a statement Thursday, Drummond said that Sanchez's execution marked a day of "justice" for Busken and her loved ones.
"Justice was served today for Juli Busken nearly 27 years after her life tragically was taken," read Drummond's statement. "My hope is that today can bring some measure of peace to her family and friends."
Sanchez is the 18th prisoner to be executed in the U.S. this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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