Oklahoma Board Rejects Clemency for Death Row Inmate, Paving the Way for March Execution

OKLAHOMA CITY—An Oklahoma board denied clemency on Wednesday for a man on death row for the fatal shooting of a woman during a home-invasion robbery in 2005, paving the way for him to be the first individual executed in the state this year.

The Pardon and Parole Board voted 4–1 against recommending clemency for Wendell Grissom, 57, who opted not to address the board via video link from the State Penitentiary in McAlester. He is set to be executed by lethal injection on March 20.

Grissom and his co-defendant, Jessie Floyd Johns, were found guilty of killing Amber Matthews, 23, and injuring her friend, Dreu Kopf, at Kopf’s residence in Blaine County. Johns received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Grissom’s attorneys, federal public defenders Kristi Christopher and Thomas Hird, acknowledged his guilt but contended that his brain damage was never disclosed to the jury. They also informed the board that Grissom has consistently expressed remorse for Matthews’ death, even penning an apology to her family during his initial police interview.

“He cannot change what happened, but he has always felt deeply ashamed and remorseful,” Christopher stated.

The defense further argued that several jurors, including the jury foreman, indicated they likely would not have supported the death penalty had they been informed of Grissom’s brain impairment.

Prosecutors countered Grissom’s defense claims, asserting that the shooting stemmed from a premeditated plan, as the men collected firearms, ammunition, and gloves, and ensured the house was devoid of any men before Grissom opened fire. Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Crabb emphasized this point.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond characterized Matthews’ murder as a “textbook” case warranting the death penalty.

“The heinous crimes committed by Grissom—random, savage attacks on innocent individuals in their own home—are the very acts that haunt people in their sleep,” Drummond remarked.

The board also heard poignant testimonies from Kopf, who shared how she still bears deep emotional and physical injuries from the assault, including retained bullet fragments. She recounted how for years, she dialed 911 whenever the doorbell rang or a stranger appeared in her neighborhood.

“I lived in constant fear,” she expressed tearfully.

In the absence of a clemency recommendation from the board, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt cannot overturn Grissom’s death sentence. Stitt has only granted clemency once during his six-year tenure, in 2021, when he commuted the sentence of death row inmate Julius Jones to life without parole just hours before Jones was to be executed. Stitt has rejected clemency recommendations from the board in four other instances.

By Sean Murphy