Request granted to transfer death row inmate from Louisiana to Oklahoma for execution
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — On Thursday, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced an agreement to transfer a convicted murderer from a federal prison in Louisiana to Oklahoma to carry out his execution.
According to a news release, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi agreed to the transfer of convicted murderer, George John Hanson, to go through with his execution in Oklahoma following a request made from Drummond in January.
Hanson, also known as John Fitzgerald Hanson, and his accomplice carjacked and kidnapped 77-year-old Mary Bowles in 1999 from a mall in Tulsa before shooting her to death in a dirt pit near Owasso.
Hanson's accomplice then killed Jerald Max Thurman, who was at the scene and witnessed Bowles's death. Hanson has been serving a separate life sentence at a federal prison in Louisiana for a bank robbery, according to the press release.
On January 23, Drummond requested the transfer of Hanson to Oklahoma, the same week that President Trump issued an executive order “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.”
Hanson filed a petition for emergency relief in a Louisiana federal district court, in an attempt to stop the transfer.
On Wednesday night, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a recommendation to deny Hanson's petition. Bondi filed a memorandum Wednesday to direct Hanson's transfer in keeping with the request from Drummond.
"I appreciate Attorney General Bondi's swift action in this case and her commitment to ensuring that justice is served for the death of Mary Bowles," Drummond said.
In the release, Drummond asked the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to transfer Hanson to the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center before the next scheduled execution on March 20, which would make him eligible for the next available execution date likely in June.