By Meghan McCormick

Transcript Staff Writer

Donald Lee Gilson, convicted in the 1995 murder of an 8-year-old rural Cleveland County boy, has had his execution postponed, officials said Thursday.

Gov. Brad Henry granted Gilson, 48, a stay until May 14 to give him time to review Gilson’s case.

“I take clemency recommendations very seriously and will give this case the thorough deliberation it deserves,” Henry said.

Gilson’s original execution date was May 5. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole board met April 14 and recommended clemency for Gilson by a 3-2 vote.

The board asked the governor to commute the sentence to life in prison without parole, according to Gov. Henry’s office. Gilson has served prison time at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

According to Henry’s office, Henry and his legal staff will review the recommendation and other information related to the case. Henry also will meet with both prosecution and defense attorneys, allowing them to present arguments and evidence to him.  

“After that process is completed, the governor will make a final decision on the clemency recommendation,” according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“During Gov. Henry’s term in office, the State Pardon and Parole Board has recommended clemency for five death row inmates, but he has approved only two, commuting the sentences to life in prison without parole,” the release stated. 

Gilson was convicted and sentenced to death for the beating death of his girlfriend’s son, 8-year-old Shane Coffman. Coffman’s body was found in a freezer behind Gilson’s trailer in Newalla Feb. 9, 1996. Investigators believe the boy died around Aug. 17, 1995.

A medical examiner’s report revealed Coffman suffered acute fractures to his left jaw and right cheek in addition to a cracked upper incisor and fractures of the left collarbone, several ribs, a shoulder, a leg and his spine.

Shane’s mother, Bertha Jean Coffman also was convicted for her role in Shane’s death. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson asked the court to set the execution date after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Gilson’s final appeal Feb. 23.

Edmondson released a statement Thursday afternoon after the governor made his decision.

“We take death penalty cases very seriously, and I appreciate the fact that the governor does too,” Edmondson said. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to present Governor Henry with the evidence that led to Donald Gilson’s conviction and sentence.”

Former Cleveland County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall said he was surprised when he learned the board recommended clemency for Gilson. Kuykendall served as district attorney from 1998 to 2006. Gilson was convicted in Coffman’s death in 1998.

“I was shocked they recommended clemency for Mr. Gilson,” Kuykendall said.

“Had they been the investigators on the scene that found Shane’s body in that freezer or had they been one of the 12 jurors that listened to that gruesome testimony over the course of two weeks, I don’t think they would have been likely to recommend clemency for Mr. Gilson,” he said.

Kuykendall questioned the parole board’s role in the legal system.

“If we’re going to let a parole board decide whether or not he should be given the death penalty, my question is ‘Why did we have a jury trial in the first place?’” he said.

Gilson’s defense team mentioned at his clemency hearing that Gilson has a brain injury and that his cognitive ability has been impaired. Gilson supposedly suffered the injury in a vehicle accident before Shane’s death.

Kuykendall said this was the first time he’s heard about Gilson’s injury.

“That is something totally new that I hadn’t heard of before,” he said. “It wasn’t mentioned at the trial.”

Kuykendall said Gilson knew his actions were wrong.

“Mr. Gilson knew exactly what he was doing when he inflicted those injuries to Shane Coffman,” he said.

Kuykendall said Shane wasn’t the only child who suffered abuse by Gilson’s hands.

“There was another child who almost lost a foot to Gangrene,” he said. “One child was beaten so badly with a belt it left blood spattered on the wall near the refrigerator. Another child was beaten because he ate the dog food when he didn’t have any food himself.”

Kuykendall said the evidence showed Gilson’s sentence fit the crime.

“I think Mr. Gilson’s sentence was appropriate then and I think it’s appropriate now,” he said.

Kuykendall said he commends Gov. Henry for doing his job and taking time to listen to the evidence. But he hopes Henry doesn’t commute Gilson’s sentence to life without parole.

“I think it would be a total miscarriage of justice if he allows Mr. Gilson to avoid his just punishment,” Kuykendall said.

He said the Gilson trial also affected the jurors that listened to testimony and saw the evidence.

“I know that after the original trial in doing other death penalty cases, there were other jurors called on death penalty cases, that served on the Gilson death penalty case. They talked about how it affected them,” Kuykendall said. “It was a very difficult case for jurors to listen to, but they made the right decision.”

Meghan McCormick366-3539mmccormick@normantranscript.com