The Norman Transcript

Headlines

Discussion

February 21, 2013

Death row inmate waives hearing

By Tim Talley Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma death row inmate scheduled to be executed next month has waived his right to ask the state Pardon and Parole Board for clemency, the board’s general counsel said Wednesday.

Steven Ray Thacker, 42, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in Oklahoma in a multi-state crime spree in which he was accused of killing three people in three different states.

In Oklahoma, Thacker received the death penalty after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the December 1999 stabbing death of Laci Dawn Hill, 25, of Bixby.

Thacker has the legal right to ask the Pardon and Parole Board to commute his death sentence to life in prison. But the board’s general counsel, Tracy George, told The Associated Press by email that Thacker waived his clemency hearing.

A federal appeals court upheld Thacker’s Oklahoma conviction and sentence in April, rejecting an argument that he suffers from bipolar disorder and lacked the mental capacity to waive his right to a jury trial.

Thacker is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on March 12. Thacker’s defense attorney, Randy Bauman, declined to comment Wednesday.

In the Oklahoma slaying, Hill had advertised a pool table for sale at her Tulsa County home and Thacker answered the ad. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents said Thacker admitted to pulling a knife on Hill and demanding money. He also allegedly said he took a credit card from her, forced her into his car and drove her to a cabin in Chouteau, where he allegedly raped and strangled her.

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Headlines
  • Severe Weather Plaza Towers teacher’s aide recounts twister

    When the tornado siren sounded at Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore on Monday afternoon, Maylene Sorrels had one reaction: protect her students....

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo

  • Tornado_Search_&_Rescue_1_BV Officials vow not to quit looking until everyone is found

    The tornado that killed 24 people and injured at least 100 others in the Moore and Oklahoma City area cut a17 mile long path that started in Newcastle and ended at Lake Stanley Draper. Nine of the dead are children....

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo

  • First victim identified

    MOORE — The first victim of Moore’s tornado was identified by family as 9-year-old Janae Hornsby, a Plaza Towers Elementary student, according to a local news station....

    May 22, 2013

  • P1013515 Norman church serves storm victims

    Journey Church was humming with activity Tuesday morning as hundreds of volunteers worked to organize donated goods for the victims of Monday’s tornado in Moore....

    May 22, 2013 2 Photos

  • 20130521_mooretornado4 Joplin pays it forward to Moore following Monday twister

    MOORE — Joplin is paying it forward. The day before the two-year anniversary of an EF-5 leveling one-third of Joplin, pastors from Ignite Church responded to Moore, where an EF-5 spent 40 minutes on the ground....

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo

  • Curfew set for Moore; search process explained

    Police arrested two men on looting complaints Tuesday after homeowners saw the men and alerted authorities, said Moore Police Department spokesman Jeremy Lewis....

    May 22, 2013

  • City awarded communities incentive grant

    The city of Norman was one of 21 cities recently awarded a Healthy Communities Incentive Grant from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust....

    May 22, 2013

  • little axe 1 Little Axe seniors celebrate graduation

    Family, friends and faculty set aside grief and concern for Sunday’s and Monday’s tornado devastation Tuesday evening and celebrated the graduation of the Little Axe High School class of 2013....

    May 22, 2013 1 Photo

  • County crews will assess property damages

    The Cleveland County assessor expects that the number of homes destroyed by Monday’s tornado will exceed the total from the May 1999 tornado that devoured much Moore....

    May 22, 2013

  • Through the field of wreckage

    Again, it was Moore. For the third time in less than 15 years, residents of this city of about 60,000 must mourn their dead, help the living and pick up the pieces of shattered lives that now lay in a field of wreckage....

    May 22, 2013