Gilbert Postelle: Oklahoma man who killed 4 people to be executed by lethal injection
The state of Oklahoma used to be one of the busiest death chambers in the US. However, the state decided to pause all executions in 2015 after a lethal injection failed in 2014. Oklahoma is now all set to carry its second execution of the year on Thursday, February 17.
The execution of Gilbert Ray Postelle, 35, will be the fourth lethal injection in Oklahoma since executions resumed last October after a seven-year pause. Postelle was sentenced to death when he was 18, after being convicted in the Memorial Day 2005 shooting that caused the deaths of James Alderson, Terry Smith, Donnie Swindle, and Amy Wright in southeast Oklahoma City. Evidence proved Amy Wright and James Alderson were shot by a rifle from behind for which Gilbert Postelle was given two death sentences.
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During his mercy plea, Postelle's lawyer Robert Nance did not deny his involvement in the crime but argued that he had a learning disability and was abandoned by his mother and that his past led him to methamphetamine abuse when he was just 12.
Requesting the Parole board's mercy, he said, “He’s a different man than he was, I think he needs a certain amount of forgiveness because he grew up in an environment that was almost exclusively negative.”
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board rejected clemency for Postelle with a 4-1 vote. Gilbert Postelle testified during his clemency hearing, "I do understand that I'm guilty and I accept that, there’s nothing more that I know to say to you all than I am truly sorry for what I've done to all these families."
Assistant Attorney General Julie Pittman told the Clemency board, “In her final moments, Amy Wright was screaming and clawing the ground to escape from Gilbert Postelle.”
Three others were booked for the conspiracy and charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Gilbert's brother, David Bradford Postelle, was penalized with life imprisonment. In a trial held in 2006, their father Earl Bradford Postelle was ruled incompetent. Randal Wade Byus, the fourth man involved, cooperated with the police and pleaded guilty. His charges were reduced in 2008.