Oklahoma

Man set to be executed for 1996 slaying of University of Oklahoma dance student

Published

1 year ago

September 21, 2023

Man set to be executed for 1996 slaying of University of Oklahoma dance student

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma is set to execute an inmate Thursday morning for the 1996 slaying of a University of Oklahoma dance student, a case that went unsolved for years until DNA from the crime scene matched a man serving time for burglary.

Anthony Sanchez, 44, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection at 10 a.m. CDT at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He took the unusual step earlier this year of opting not to present a clemency application to the state’s Pardon and Parole Board, which many viewed as his last chance to have his life spared. His former attorneys blamed Sanchez’s decision on his spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff Hood, an anti-death penalty advocate who has befriended death row inmates across the country.

Sanchez’s new attorney, Eric Allen of Columbus, Ohio, has requested a stay of execution in federal court, claiming he needs more time to go through boxes of evidence in the case. So far, that request has been rejected by a federal judge and is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sanchez was convicted of raping and murdering 21-year-old Juli Busken, an Arkansas native who had just completed her last semester when she was abducted on Dec. 20, 1996, from the parking lot of her Norman apartment complex. Her body was found that evening near a lake in far southeast Oklahoma City. She had been bound, raped and shot in the head.

Busken had performed as a ballerina in several dance performances during her tenure at OU and was memorialized at the campus with a dance scholarship in her name at the College of Fine Arts.

Years later, Sanchez was serving time for a burglary conviction when DNA from sperm on Busken’s clothing at the crime scene was matched to him. He was convicted and sentenced to die in 2006.

Sanchez has long maintained his innocence and did so again in a phone call to The Associated Press earlier this year from death row. “That is fabricated DNA,” Sanchez said. “That is false DNA. That is not my DNA. I’ve been saying that since day one.”

He told AP he declined to ask for clemency because even when the five-member Pardon and Parole Board takes the rare step of recommending it, Gov. Kevin Stitt has been unlikely to grant it. “I’ve sat in my cell and I’ve watched inmate after inmate after inmate get clemency and get denied clemency,” Sanchez said. “Either way, it doesn’t go well for the inmates.”

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond maintained the DNA evidence unequivocally links Sanchez to Busken’s killing.

A sample of Anthony Sanchez’s DNA “was identical to the profiles developed from sperm on Ms. Busken’s panties and leotard,” Drummond wrote last month in a letter to a state representative who had inquired about Sanchez’s conviction. Drummond added there was no indication either profile was mixed with DNA from any other individual and that the odds of randomly selecting an individual with the same genetic profile were 1 in 94 trillion among Southwest Hispanics.

“There is no conceivable doubt that Anthony Sanchez is a brutal rapist and murderer who is deserving of the state’s harshest punishment,” Drummond said in a recent statement.

A private investigator hired by an anti-death penalty group contends the DNA evidence may have been contaminated and that an inexperienced lab technician miscommunicated the strength of the evidence to a jury.

Former Cleveland County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall, who was the county’s top prosecutor when Sanchez was tried, has said that while the DNA evidence was the most compelling at trial, there was other evidence linking Sanchez to the killing, including ballistic evidence and a shoe print found at the crime scene.

“I know from spending a lot of time on that case, there is not one piece of evidence that pointed to anyone other than Anthony Sanchez,” Kuykendall said recently. “I don’t care if a hundred people or a thousand people confess to killing Juli Busken.”

Oklahoma resumed carrying out the death penalty in 2021, ending a six-year moratorium brought on by concerns about its execution methods. The state had one of the nation’s busiest death chambers until problems arose in 2014 and 2015. Richard Glossip was hours away from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realized they received the wrong lethal drug. It was later learned the same wrong drug had been used to execute an inmate in January 2015.

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Oklahoma

What will the weather be like on Christmas Day in OKC? See 2024 Christmas forecast

Published

8 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

What will the weather be like on Christmas Day in OKC? See 2024 Christmas forecast

Oklahoma City won’t have a white Christmas in 2024, but we also won’t be breaking any high temperature records.

Here’s what you need to know about the Christmas forecast in OKC and across Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Christmas 2024 forecast

According to the National Weather Service, it will be cloudy but dry on Christmas Day in Oklahoma.

A chance of rain will increase in the late evening hours.

Here are the forecasted highs and lows across central, western and northern Oklahoma:

Oklahoma City: Low of 44°F, high of 52°F
Enid: Low of 36°F, high of 50°F
Lawton: Low of 46°F, high of 57°F
Woodward: Low of 30°F, high of 52°F
Ada: Low of 46°F, high of 56°F

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Oklahoma

Former Oklahoma State DC Bryan Nardo Expected to Join Charlotte Staff

Published

15 hours ago

December 24, 2024

Press Room

Former Oklahoma State DC Bryan Nardo Expected to Join Charlotte Staff

Oklahoma State’s former defensive coordinator is wasting no time finding another gig.

On Monday, Doug Samuels of FootballScoop reported that Bryan Nardo is expected to join the defensive staff at Charlotte. One of the most recent teams to jump to the FBS level, Charlotte could soon be adding a coach with Big 12 experience.

Nardo spent the past two seasons in Stillwater as the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. While his first season wasn’t necessarily the most impressive, it seemed his adjustments and overall scheme were key in OSU’s ascension to a 10-win season and Big 12 Championship appearance.

However, everything fell apart for Nardo in year 2. With the Cowboys ranking among the bottom 10 in the FBS in most statistical categories, OSU’s defense was the main issue in the team’s winless Big 12 campaign.

However, not all of the blame for OSU’s three-win season can be placed on Nardo. OSU’s offense also struggled mightily throughout the season, but the injuries piling up for the OSU defense sealed Nardo’s fate.

With future NFL players Collin Oliver and Nick Martin not playing a snap after September, the Cowboys were without their anchors and other injuries piled up from there. With a myriad of backups and players not playing in their natural positions, Nardo had no true opportunities to run his desired scheme. Still, OSU’s horrendous rankings and results on the field were still too much to overlook as the team overhauled virtually its entire staff this offseason.

With Nardo heading east, the Cowboys hired Todd Grantham as his replacement shortly after the position opened. Nardo is also not the first former OSU defensive coordinator to head to Charlotte.

After being let go following the 2017 season, Glenn Spencer went to Charlotte and was its defensive coordinator for the 2018 season.

Want to join the discussion? Like Oklahoma State Cowboys on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Cowboys news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

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Oklahoma

Navy Midshipmen Keys to Beating Oklahoma Sooners in Armed Forces Bowl

Published

1 day ago

December 24, 2024

Press Room

Navy Midshipmen Keys to Beating Oklahoma Sooners in Armed Forces Bowl

The Armed Forces Bowl is the Navy Midshipmen’s kind of bowl game. As they prepare to take on the Oklahoma Sooners, they are familiar with the surroundings at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kickoff on Friday is at noon eastern on ESPN.

This is Navy’s (9-3) third appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl, as they beat Middle Tennessee in 2013 and then played a highly-dramatic affair with Louisiana Tech in 2016, which Navy lost 48-45.

At stake for the Midshipmen is their first 10-win season under second-year coach Brian Newberry and their sixth 10-win season in program history. Also with the win the Midshipmen can double their win total from a season ago in Newberry’s debut.

All in all, it would be the capper for a successful second year under their former defensive coordinator.

Oklahoma (6-6) is coming off a sluggish debut in the SEC, where at times the Sooners struggled to score points but scored a huge elite season win over Alabama, a victory that likely kept the Crimson Tide out of the College Football Playoff.

Third-year coach Brent Venables is also dealing with losing players to the transfer portal and two potential defensive stars who may not play in the game as they prepare for the NFL.

How does Navy win? Here are three keys to watch.

Wanna see a simple cause-and-effect relationship?

In Navy’s nine wins, the Midshipmen have outscored teams 104-7 in points off turnovers. The only team to score any points off a Navy turnover in those nine games? Incredibly, it was Bucknell in the season opener.

In the Midshipmen’s three losses, Navy has been outscored 48-0 in points off turnovers.

Navy needs to avoid turnovers, avoid giving up points when it turns the ball over. It also needs to force turnovers and score points off those turnovers.

Yes, that’s rather simple. But the Midshipmen are polar opposite teams in this category, which means that first turnover of the game, whoever commits it, could be telling.

It’s not as if Navy is going to become a different team than it was against Army West Point, and certainly quarterback Blake Hovarth’s ability to throw the ball as a differentiator. But, the Midshipmen just need to be who they are.

Navy is averaging 249.3 rushing yards per game, the seventh-best average in FBS and the program’s best since 2019.

Navy hasn’t played Oklahoma in decades comma but Army played the Sooners recently in Norman. Back in 2018, OU needed overtime to beat Army, 28-21. Oklahoma doesn’t see option teams at all during the season. That’s an edge for Navy.

Oklahoma has had some turnover at quarterback since the end of the regular season. Starter Jackson Arnold transferred to Auburn and another quarterback is in the portal.

The Sooners expect to start Michael Hawkins Jr. behind center, who actually began the season as the starting quarterback. So Navy’s defensive staff will need to break down some tape from earlier in the season.

He has 536 passing yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He’s a solid runner. But he was benched for fumbling the ball multiple times against South Carolina. Ball protection is key against Navy, which does a good job of creating turnovers. Pressure on Hawkins will be a difference-maker in the game.

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