Man on death row who claimed self-defense in double killing is denied clemency by Oklahoma governor

By SEAN MURPHY and JAKE BLEIBERG
Associated Press

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — A man on death row who claimed self-defense in the shooting deaths of two men in Oklahoma City in 2001 has been denied clemency. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt’s decision on Thursday came shortly after 59-year-old Phillip Dean Hancock was set to be executed. The Pardon and Parole Board narrowly voted 3-2 earlier this month to recommend that the governor grant clemency to Hancock. It is the fourth time the panel has recommended Stitt spare the life of a death row inmate. He previously commuted the death sentence of Julius Jones in 2021 just hours before Jones was scheduled to receive a lethal injection. Stitt rejected clemency recommendations for two other death row inmates.