Two Executions Recently Set in Oklahoma

On January 19, 2005, a week after issuing its opinion denying the second application for post-conviction relief in Slaughter v. State, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set an execution date of March 15, 2005, for Jimmy Ray Slaughter.
A press release from the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office states, "Slaughter was convicted of the July 2, 1991, murders of his ex-girlfriend Melody Sue Wuertz, 29, and their one-year-old daughter Jessica Rae Wuertz. The murders were committed in Wuertz’s Edmond home. Melody Wuertz was shot in the head and neck and her body was stabbed and slashed multiple times. Jessica Wuertz was shot in the head." A clemency hearing will be held for Slaughter at 9 a.m., Feb. 15 at Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
On January 24, 2005, the Court of Criminal appeals also set the execution date for John David Duty. Duty's execution is set for February 24, 2005.
A press release from the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office states "Duty, 52, was convicted of the Dec. 19, 2001, murder of Curtis Wise, 22. Wise was Duty’s cell mate at Oklahoma State Penitentiary. At the time of Wise’s murder, Duty was serving two concurrent life sentences for 1978 Tillman County convictions of rape and shooting with intent to kill and one life sentence for a 1978 conviction of robbery in Jackson County."