After another man originally sat on death row for the crimes, the state on Tuesday will execute Ronald Clinton Lott for the 1986 and 1987 rape and strangulation of Anna Laura Fowler, 83, and Zelma Cutler, 90.
In 1987, Robert Lee Miller Jr. was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to death. Miller, who had originally confessed to raping and murdering the two Oklahoma City women, served 11 years before DNA evidence linked Lott to the killings.
Miller was released in 1998 after seven years on death row.
In January, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver rejected Lott's appeal. He claimed he received ineffective counsel during the sentencing phase of the trial and argued there was prosecutorial misconduct and insufficient evidence in his case, among other things.
On Nov. 8, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied Lott clemency by a 4-1 vote. Only board member Currie Ballard voted in favor.
Lott's attorneys also argued that he had received inadequate representation during his trial and asked the board to consider his troubled youth, which included early exposure to drugs and alcohol.
Lott will be the fifth man to be executed by the state this year. One more inmate, Johnny Dale Black, 48, is scheduled for execution Dec. 17 for the 1998 stabbing death of Ringling horse trainer Bill Pogue.
Copyright 2013 - The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
