Oklahoma Carries Out Execution for 2005 Homicide
The state of Oklahoma executed a man on Thursday for the deadly shooting of a woman during a home invasion and robbery that occurred two decades prior.
Execution Details
Wendell Grissom, aged 56, was pronounced dead via lethal injection at 10:13 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to a corrections department spokesperson. This marks Oklahoma’s first execution in 2025.
The Crime and Legal Proceedings
Grissom and an accomplice, Jessie Floyd Johns, were found guilty in the killing of 23-year-old Amber Matthews and the wounding of her friend, Dreu Kopf, at Kopf’s residence in Blaine County. Johns received a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
Executions Across the United States
This week saw three other executions scheduled across the nation. Louisiana employed nitrogen gas to carry out a death sentence on Tuesday, marking the state’s resumption of executions after a 15-year pause. In Arizona, a man convicted of kidnapping and murdering his girlfriend’s former husband was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday. Florida is scheduled to conduct another lethal injection on Thursday.
Details of the 2005 Crime
Prosecutors stated that Grissom, who had an extensive criminal history, encountered Johns, a hitchhiker, and together they decided to commit robberies while traveling west on Interstate 40. They targeted Kopf’s home near Watonga, where Matthews was visiting with Kopf and her two young children.
Matthews suffered two fatal gunshot wounds to the head and was left critically injured. Kopf, also shot twice and severely wounded, managed to escape in Grissom’s vehicle to seek assistance, according to court documents. Grissom and Johns fled on a stolen four-wheeler, but after running out of fuel, they were apprehended after getting a ride to a nearby cafe.
Victim’s Children Found Unharmed
Authorities discovered Kopf’s children inside the home, unharmed physically. Matthews succumbed to her injuries after being airlifted to an Oklahoma City hospital.
Defense Arguments and Clemency Denial
Grissom’s legal team did not contest his guilt but argued during a clemency hearing that he had undiagnosed brain damage that was not presented to the jury during his trial. The state’s Pardon and Parole Board rejected Grissom’s clemency request.
His attorneys informed the board that Grissom had consistently acknowledged responsibility and had penned an apology to Matthews’s family during his initial police interview.
“He cannot undo the past, but he is and always has been profoundly ashamed and remorseful,” stated Kristi Christopher, an attorney from the federal public defender’s office.
Victim’s Testimony
Kopf testified to the board about the enduring psychological and physical trauma she still endures from the attack, including bullet fragments remaining in her body. She recounted that in the years following the assault, she experiences heightened anxiety, calling emergency services when unexpected doorbells or strangers appear in her neighborhood.
“I have lived in a constant state of fear,” she said, visibly emotional.
Attorney General’s Perspective
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond characterized Matthews’s murder as a “textbook” case for the death penalty.
“The offenses perpetrated by Grissom – random, brutal assaults on innocent individuals within the sanctity of their own residence – are precisely the type that terrorize communities and disrupt peace of mind,” Drummond asserted during last month’s hearing.
Oklahoma’s Death Penalty Record
The lethal injection of Kevin Ray Underwood marked the 127th execution conducted by the state of Oklahoma since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, according to state prison records.