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Oklahoma Board Recommends Clemency for Death Row Inmate Tremane Wood
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The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board narrowly recommended sparing the life of Tremane Wood, a man scheduled for execution next week for a 2001 murder, placing the decision in the hands of Governor Kevin Stitt. This case highlights the complexities surrounding capital punishment and raises questions about potential flaws in the justice system.
A Life on the Line
On Wednesday, the board voted 3-2 to recommend that Republican Governor Kevin Stitt commute Wood’s death sentence to life in prison. wood, 46, was convicted for his role in the death of Ronnie Wipf, a 19-year-old migrant farmworker from Montana, during a robbery gone wrong on New Year’s Eve in 2001.The attempted robbery took place at a hotel in north Oklahoma City.
Stitt has a limited record of granting clemency,having done so only once during his nearly seven years in office – in the case of Julius Jones in 2021.He has previously denied clemency recommendations in four other instances. During his time in office, a total of 16 men have been executed in Oklahoma. The governor’s office has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the board’s recent decision.
Conflicting Accounts of the Crime
Wood’s defense team acknowledges his participation in the robbery but asserts that his brother, Zjaiton Wood, was responsible for the actual stabbing of Wipf. Zjaiton Wood, who received a life sentence without parole for his role in the crime, reportedly confessed to multiple individuals that he was the one who killed Wipf before his death in prison in 2019. According to Tremane wood’s attorney, Amanda Bass Castro Alves, “Zjaiton Wood admitted to several people that he killed Wipf.”
Claims of a Flawed Trial
Castro Alves further contends that Wood’s original trial was compromised by an ineffective attorney who struggled with alcohol abuse and failed to adequately investigate the case. She also alleges that prosecutors withheld information from the jury regarding benefits provided to witnesses in exchange for their testimony.”Tremane’s death sentence is the product of a fundamentally broken system,” Castro Alves stated.
Prosecution’s Argument for Continued Punishment
Prosecutors, however, present a different picture of Wood, portraying him as a continuing threat to public safety. They argue that he has remained involved in criminal activity while incarcerated, including drug trafficking, possessing contraband cellphones, and instigating attacks on fellow inmates. Attorney General Gentner Drummond emphasized this point, stating, “Even within the confines of maximum security prison, Tremane Wood has continued to manipulate, exploit and harm others.”
Wood’s Plea for Mercy
Testifying via video link from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Wood accepted responsibility for his actions within prison and his involvement in the robbery. Though, he vehemently denied being the one who killed Wipf. “I’m not a monster. I’m not a killer. I never was and I never have been,” Wood told the panel. He also expressed remorse for the victim and his family, saying, “not a day goes by in my life that I do not think about Ronnie and how much his mom and dad are suffering because they don’t have
