Oklahoma man executed for double murder by lethal injection

Michael Smith, 41, convicted of the double murder of Janet Moore and Sharath Babu Pulluru over two decades ago, was executed by lethal injection on Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to officials.

The Department of Corrections confirmed the execution, stating that the process commenced at 10:09 am Central Time (1509 GMT), with Smith pronounced dead 11 minutes later. A designated “spiritual advisor” was present in the execution chamber during the procedure.

Smith was found guilty in 2003 for the separate murders that occurred in 2002 in Oklahoma City. He initially admitted to shooting Moore and Pulluru but later claimed drug-induced memory loss at the time of arrest, as reported by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Despite pleas for clemency based on allegations of intellectual disability and long-term substance abuse, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied Smith’s appeal last month. His final attempt to secure a stay of execution was rejected by the US Supreme Court on Thursday.

This execution marks the fourth in the United States this year. Previously, Alabama carried out its first execution using nitrogen gas, while Georgia and Texas utilized lethal injection methods. Notably, an attempted execution by lethal injection in Idaho in February was aborted due to difficulties in establishing an intravenous line.

The landscape of capital punishment in the US continues to evolve, with 23 states having abolished the death penalty entirely. Additionally, the governors of six states, including Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, have imposed moratoriums on its application. In 2023, all 24 executions in the United States were conducted via lethal injection.