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Convicted Oklahoma murderer James Coddington was executed on Thursday morning, just one day after the governor declined to commute his sentence despite a recommendation from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board that his life be spared.
Coddington, 50, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m. Gov. Kevin Stitt declined to commute Coddington’s sentence to life in prison without parole and rejected his petition for clemency. Coddington was the fifth Oklahoma inmate to be put to death since the state resumed executions last year.
Coddington was convicted and sentenced to die for the beating death of his friend and coworker, 73-year-old Albert Hale, inside Hale’s Choctaw home. Prosecutors say Coddington, who was 24 at the time, became enraged when Hale refused to give him money to buy cocaine.
OKLAHOMA GOV. KEVIN STITT REJECTS CLEMENCY FOR DEATH ROW INMATE
FILE - In this photo from a video screen, death row inmate James Coddington speaks to the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
During a clemency hearing this month before the state’s five-member Pardon and Parole Board, an emotional Coddington apologized to Hale’s family and said he was a different man today.
"I’m clean, I know God, I’m not ... I’m not a vicious murderer," Coddington told the board. "If this ends today with my death sentence, OK."
Coddington’s attorney, Emma Rolls, told the panel at the time that Coddington was impaired by years of alcohol and drug abuse that began when he was an infant and his father put beer and whiskey into his baby bottles.
Mitch Hale, Albert Hale’s son, had urged the parole board not to recommend clemency, and said he felt a sense of relief with Stitt’s decision.
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FILE - This Feb. 5, 2021, photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows James Coddington. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File)
"Our family can put this behind us after 25 years," Hale, 64, said after Stitt announced his decision. "No one is ever happy that someone’s dying, but (Coddington) chose this path ... he knew what the consequences are, he rolled the dice and lost."
Hale, his wife, goddaughter and a friend attended the execution at a McAlester facililty.
OKLAHOMA LAWMAKERS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT DEFENDANT'S GUILT IN DEATH PENALTY CASE
Coddington was twice sentenced to death for Hale’s killing, the second time in 2008 after his initial sentence was overturned on appeal.
After killing Hale, Coddington committed at least six armed robberies at gas stations and convenience stores across Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections facility (Oklahoma Department of Corrections Twitter)
"When the full circumstances of the murder, related robberies, and extensive history of violence on Mr. Coddington’s part are considered, one thing is clear: death is the only just punishment for him," prosecutors in the state attorney general’s office wrote to the Pardon and Parole Board.
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The state had halted executions in September 2015 when prison officials realized they had received the wrong lethal drug. It later came to light that the same wrong drug had been used to execute an inmate, and executions in the state were put on hold.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
