Murderer given lethal injection in execution 20 years after killing couple
A death row murderer who killed an elderly couple after spying on his ex-girlfriend's house has been executed.
Scott Eizember, 62, was killed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, US, at 10.15am local time (4.15pm GMT) for the deaths of A.J. Cantrell, 76, and his wife, Patsy Cantrell, 70, in 2003.
It is the eighth execution in Oklahoma since the state resumed executions in 2021.
Rev. Jeffrey Hood, an anti-death penalty minister with a history of protest-related arrests, watched inside the chamber while Eizember was executed today.
Steven Harpe, Department of Corrections Director, reversed his earlier decision not to allow the Mr Hood into the chamber after consulting with the family members of Eizember's victims.
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Eizember spoke to the state’s Pardon and Parole Board last month in a video call where he apologised to his victims and admitted he belonged in prison.
He said: “I make no excuses. I belong in prison. I’ve said that right from the start, and I apologize profusely to all the victims and when I say all, I mean the entire Creek County community.”
Eizember had broken into the couple's home to wait his ex-girlfriend, Kathryn Smith, to return to her mum's house across the street.
Oklahoma prison officials confirmed yesterday that they will allow an anti-death penalty minister inside the execution chamber (AFP via Getty Images)However, when the Cantrells came home he held the couple hostage before fatally killing them.
Eizember’s attorneys had argued Patsy Cantrell was shot and killed while he and A.J. Cantrell struggled over the shotgun.
He went on to commit a series of other crimes across several other states, leading to one of Oklahoma's largest manhunts before he was ultimately captured in Texas more than a month after the killings.
Eizember was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for killing A.J. Cantrell and convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 150 years in prison for killing Patsy Cantrell.
Authorities believe Eizember hid out in wooded areas around the towns of Depew and Bristow for more than 30 days while law enforcement agencies launched a large manhunt to track him down.
A federal jury in Arkansas convicted Eizember in December 2005 on two counts of kidnapping and one count each of carjacking and using a firearm in a crime of violence.
He was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in that case.
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