Post-Furman US execution #1582
Oklahoma execution #123 since reinstatement
On the morning of Thursday, the 30th of November, 2023, the State of Oklahoma carried out the final execution in the United States for the year when 59-year-old Phillip Dean Hancock was put to death by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Pittsburg County. Hancock had spent over eighteen years on death row following his conviction for the fatal shooting of two men during an altercation at an Oklahoma City residence in 2001.
The case attracted substantial public controversy because Hancock had consistently asserted that he had acted strictly in self-defence against members of an outlaw motorcycle gang. In addition, the execution proceeded only after Governor Kevin Stitt rejected a rare recommendation of executive clemency issued by the state’s Pardon and Parole Board.
The Crime
The shootings took place on the night of Friday, the 27th of April, 2001, at a residence situated in south Oklahoma City. The house was occupied by 37-year-old Robert Lee Jett Jr.. Also present was 58-year-old James Vance Lynch. Both Jett and Lynch were associated with motorcycle clubs, and evidence indicated that all parties were involved in the local illicit drug culture.
Hancock, who had previously served time in prison for a 1982 manslaughter conviction (a case in which he had likewise asserted self-defence), visited Jett’s home that evening accompanied by a female acquaintance. According to witness accounts and Hancock’s later statements, an altercation erupted inside the living room. Hancock claimed that Jett ordered him to step inside a large metal dog cage, and when he refused, Jett attacked him with a metal bar while Lynch joined in the physical struggle.
Hancock maintained that during the violent struggle, he managed to disarm Jett of a .32-calibre semi-automatic handgun and opened fire in fear for his life. Lynch was shot multiple times in the face, neck, and torso, dying inside the residence. Jett was struck several times and fled through the back door into the garden. Hancock pursued Jett into the rear yard and discharged further rounds into him before fleeing the scene.
Hancock was apprehended several days later and formally indicted in Oklahoma County for two counts of first-degree murder.
Trial and Sentence
Hancock was brought to trial in the District Court of Oklahoma County in September 2004.
The prosecution argued that whatever the initial nature of the argument, the forensic evidence contradicted a lawful claim of self-defence. Pathologists established that Jett had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the back, and the state maintained that pursuing an unarmed, fleeing man into the backyard to deliver fatal shots constituted premeditated murder. Hancock testified in his own defence, asserting that he was trapped, beaten, and convinced that the men intended to kill him.
On the 28th of September, 2004, the jury rejected the self-defence claim and found Hancock guilty of both counts of first-degree murder. Following the penalty hearing, the jury found multiple statutory aggravating circumstances—including that Hancock had created a great risk of death to more than one person and had previously been convicted of a felony involving violence—and recommended that he suffer the penalty of death for both homicides. The trial judge imposed sentence of death in November 2004.
Appeals and the Clemency Controversy
Hancock spent nineteen years housed on death row at McAlester, pursuing state and federal habeas corpus challenges. His appellate attorneys contended that his original trial counsel had provided ineffective assistance by failing to call corroborating witnesses to substantiate Jett’s violent reputation or properly introduce evidence of Hancock’s severe injuries sustained during the fight. Furthermore, trial counsel later submitted affidavits acknowledging that they had been struggling with serious personal substance dependency issues at the time of the 2004 trial.
On the 8th of November, 2023, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board convened for Hancock’s clemency hearing. In a notable outcome, the board voted 3–2 to recommend that Governor Kevin Stitt commute Hancock’s death sentence to life imprisonment without parole. Several prominent conservative state lawmakers publicly supported the commutation recommendation, expressing concern over the credibility of the trial representation and the merits of the self-defence claim.
The execution date remained fixed for Thursday, the 30th of November. Under Oklahoma law, the governor is not obligated to accept the board’s recommendation. In the days leading up to the execution, Governor Stitt offered no public indication of his decision.
On the morning of the 30th of November, the scheduled execution hour of 10:00 a.m. passed without the execution proceeding, while Hancock waited strapped to the gurney in the death chamber. Shortly before 11:00 a.m., Governor Stitt formally announced that he would not commute the sentence, citing his review of the physical evidence, the pursuit of the wounded victim into the yard, and Hancock’s previous homicide conviction.
The Execution
For his final meal, Hancock requested chicken parmesan, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, and a cherry vanilla soft drink.
Following the governor’s denial, the final preparations inside the execution chamber were completed. Intravenous lines had been placed in his arms. The viewing curtains were drawn open at approximately 11:15 a.m., revealing Hancock strapped to the central gurney. Official witnesses, press representatives, and members of the victims’ families were seated behind the glass partition. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond was also in attendance inside the witness room.
Upon the blinds opening, Hancock smiled and looked toward the viewing gallery, saying:
“Where are my enemies at?”
He then delivered a lengthy, defiant final statement lasting nearly four minutes, directly addressing the Attorney General and criticising the state’s handling of his self-defence claims:
“I’ve got no remorse for what I did. I was defending my life. You guys are committing murder here today… I’ll see you all on the other side.”
The state’s standard three-drug protocol—comprising the sedative midazolam, followed by the paralytic vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride to induce cardiac arrest—commenced flowing through the lines at 11:19 a.m.
Hancock turned his head, swallowed several times, and appeared to lapse into unconsciousness by 11:23 a.m. No outward physical convulsions or audible distress were reported by the media witnesses. Respiration ceased, and at 11:29 a.m. Central Time, an examining physician pronounced life extinct. Phillip Dean Hancock was 59 years of age.
Hancock was the fourth person executed by Oklahoma in 2023, and the twenty-fourth and final person put to death in the United States that year.
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