Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has formally requested the U.S. Bureau of Prisons transfer convicted murderer George John Hanson to Oklahoma, clearing the way for his death sentence to be carried out. Hanson was convicted of the 1999 kidnapping and murder of 77-year-old Mary Bowles in Tulsa.
Hanson and an accomplice carjacked and kidnapped Bowles from a Tulsa mall before fatally shooting her. Hanson’s accomplice, Victor Miller, also killed a witness to the crime. Hanson is currently serving a separate life sentence in federal prison for a bank robbery.
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Hanson’s execution, scheduled for December 15, 2022, was previously stalled due to the former administration’s refusal to authorize the transfer.
Following a recent executive order aimed at ensuring capital punishment laws are enforced, Attorney General Drummond sent a letter to the Bureau of Prisons.
“It is the policy of the United States to ensure that the laws that authorize capital punishment are respected and faithfully implemented, and to counteract the politicians and judges who subvert the law by obstructing and preventing the execution of capital sentences,” Trump wrote in his order.
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Drummond cited the executive order as a basis for his renewed request, stating that the previous administration’s refusal to transfer Hanson constituted “subverting and obstructing” the capital sentence.
Drummond requested Hanson be transferred to the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center before the next scheduled execution date, March 20th, making him eligible for the next available execution date.
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