Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Thursday spared the life of a death row inmate just hours before his scheduled execution.
“After a thorough review of the facts and prayerful consideration, I have chosen to accept the Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation to commute Tremane Wood’s sentence to life without parole,” the conservative Republican said in a statement.
Wood, 46, was scheduled to die for stabbing a man to death during a botched robbery in 2002.
While he has always maintained his innocence, his brother, Zjaiton Jake Wood, confessed to the crime and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said the two brothers and two female friends, who were posing as prostitutes, lured victims to a hotel in the early hours of New Year’s Day in 2002, where they robbed them at knife and gunpoint.
One of the victims was 19-year-old Ronald Wipf, who was fatally stabbed by one of the two brothers. A second victim who managed to escape could not identify the attacker because both were wearing masks.
“This action reflects the same punishment his brother received for their murder of an innocent young man and ensures a severe punishment that keeps a violent offender off the streets forever,” the governor said Thursday. “I pray for the family of Ronnie Wipf and for the surviving victim, Arnie; they are models of Christian forgiveness and love.”
Stitt’s clemency comes just days after the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Wood. Both the surviving victim and Wipf’s mother opposed the execution.
His attorney, Amanda Bass Castro Alves, said in a statement Thursday that she and her legal team are “profoundly grateful” for the governor’s decision, which she says “honors the wishes of Mr. Wipf’s family and the surviving victim, and we hope it allows them a measure of peace.”
Stitt last granted clemency in 2021, when he reduced the life sentence of Julius Jones to life without parole, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. A total of 16 men have been executed in the state since Stitt took office iin January 2019.
With News Wire Services
