Oklahoma executes Jeffrey Matthews

Jeffrey Matthews

MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) - An Oklahoma death row inmate has been executed for the 1994 slaying of a 77-year-old man.

Jeffrey David Matthews died at 6:09 p.m. Tuesday after receiving a lethal injection of drugs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

The 38-year-old Matthews was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the Jan. 27, 1994, slaying of Otis Earl Short, his great uncle, during a robbery.

Former Gov. Brad Henry twice granted stays last year to give defense attorneys time to investigate Matthews' claims of innocence. A third stay was granted after defense attorneys objected to plans to substitute one of three drugs in his lethal injection.

Matthews is the second Oklahoma inmate executed this year. Billy Dawn Alverson was executed Thursday for the 1995 killing of a convenience store worker.

Matthews becomes the 96th condemned inmate to be put to death in Oklahoma since the state resumed capital punishment in 1990; only (465) and Virginia (108)have executed more inmates since the death penalty was re-legalized on July 2, 1976.

Matthews becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year and the 1236th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

Source: kjrh.com, Rick Halperin, January 11, 2011