Death Row Inmate To Seek Clemency

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – An Oklahoma death row inmate scheduled to be executed in January plans to ask the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to commute his death sentence.

Attorney General Scott Pruitt says the board has scheduled a clemency hearing on Dec. 16 for 38-year-old Michael Lee Wilson, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the beating death of a Tulsa convenience store manager. Wilson’s execution is set for Jan. 9.

Wilson was one of four men found guilty in the Feb. 26, 1995, beating death of 30-year-old Richard Yost. Yost was found bound and beaten on the floor of the convenience store’s cooler. Authorities say he was struck dozens of times with a baseball bat.

Two co-defendants have already been executed for the crime. The fourth was sentenced to life in prison.