Scott James Eizember, a 62-year-old man who murdered an elderly couple 19 years ago, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday.
“I’m at peace,” Eizember said with an IV in his arm, according to the Associated Press. “My conscience is clear, completely. I love my children.”
Eizember received his last meal at 5:10 p.m. Wednesday night. The lethal drugs began flowing at 10:01 a.m. Thursday and he was pronounced dead at 10:15.
In this Feb. 2, 2018 photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Scott Eizember, who was executed Thursday, is seen.
(Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File)
As the execution began, Eizember could be seen speaking with his spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeffrey Hood, who was initially barred from the execution chamber by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections due to his record of anti-death penalty activism and a arrest, but was allowed to enter. after the family of the victims requested it.
At one point, Eizember raised her head and mouthed “I love you” to her daughter and her lawyers.
Reverend Jeffrey Hood of Arkansas speaks to the media before protesters deliver anti-death penalty petitions to the office of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 in Oklahoma City.
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
He was found guilty of murdering an elderly couple, AJ Cantrell, 76, and Patsy Cantrell, 70, on October 18, 2003.
Eizember broke into his house to check on his ex-girlfriend, Kathryn Smith, who lived across the street. When the Cantrells returned home, Eizember shot and killed Patsy and then bludgeoned AJ to death with the gun, prosecutors said at trial.
OKLAHOMA JURY RECOMMENDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR CONVICTED POLICE KILLER
After killing the Cantrells, he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s house and attacked both her son and his mother before fleeing the scene in a stolen vehicle.
Eizember was on the run for months until he was shot by a man he tried to take hostage in Texas.
Johnny Melton, nephew of murdered couple AJ and Patsy Cantrell, makes a statement on behalf of the Cantrell family Thursday, January 12, 2023, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, after witnessing the execution of Scott Eizember.
(AP Photo/Sean Murphy)
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Johnny Melton, the couple’s nephew, said the past two decades have been “absolutely unbearable.”
“Today there is no closure, but a page has been turned and a new chapter in our lives has begun. After living through this nightmare, I have to say that 20 years is too long for justice to be done,” Melton said after the execution.
“We absolutely want to get it right and we want to make sure everyone’s rights are protected, but the process is too slow.”
Eizember’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
