A judge has granted a temporary stay of execution for Oklahoma death row inmate John Fitzgerald Hanson ahead of his previously scheduled execution date on Thursday.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s Office is appealing the ruling to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) says Thursday’s execution is still scheduled until all final appeals and rulings are exhausted.
Hanson, also known as George John Hanson, was convicted of the 1999 murder of 77-year-old Mary Bowles.
Hanson and accomplice Victor Miller carjacked Bowles at a Tulsa mall before kidnapping her and taking to an isolated area near Owasso where Hanson shot and killed her.
Before Hanson killed Bowles, Miller also shot and killed Jerald Thurman, a bystander who witnessed the crime.
Hanson asked for mercy but did not receive it from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board in May.
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