Oklahoma triple murderer who cooked victim's heart to cast out demons 'will never get out of prison'
CHICKASHA, OKLAHOMA: A triple murderer who removed the heart of his first victim to cook with potatoes was sentenced to life without the chance of parole on Wednesday, March 15. Lawrence Paul Anderson, 44, pleaded guilty to three charges of first-degree murder, one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and one count of maiming.
The families of the victims reportedly asked Grady County District Attorney Jason Hicks to abandon his plans to seek the death penalty. "A lot of that was tied to they don't want a trial," he stated at a conference after the sentencing. "They don't want to sit in a courtroom and listen to all the gory details of what happened to their loved ones," as reported by The Oklahoman.
READ MORE
What did Anderson do?
Anderson attacked his uncle, aunt, and their 4-year-old granddaughter on February 9, 2021, after fatally stabbing and severing the heart of their neighbor. The aunt lived and subsequently claimed that God was with her. He was arrested after officers answered a 911 call. The man admitted to the murders, telling police that he "cooked the heart with potatoes to feed to his family to release the demons," according to an agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Anderson was mistakenly let out of jail
Reports say the "Oklahoma cannibal" was mistakenly released from prison, enabling him to perpetrate the crimes. The assault occurred three weeks after he was mistakenly let out of prison, as per The Oklahoman.
How was Anderson released from prison?
The convicted crack cocaine dealer was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2017 for violating his probation in a drug case, as per reports. Anderson was released after spending just over three years after Gov Kevin Stitt commuted his sentence to nine years in prison.
He was serving a 20-year prison sentence
The man was not qualified for a commutation because the parole board had turned down his plea at a meeting in July 2019. However, the parole board approved it this time 3-1 when he reapplied in August 2019. The governor gave his approval for the commutation in June 2020. The killer was serving a 20-year prison sentence for both probation violations related to his drug dealing case and new felonies. His sentence was commuted to nine years, allowing for his release in 2021.
Who knew about the mistake?
A grand jury in Oklahoma County looked into the reasons for the release.
Grand jurors stated that at least one senior member of the employees at the parole board learned of the error. "The discovery was made at a time when it could have been easily corrected," grand jurors stated. "However, a unilateral decision was made by one person not to bring the error to the attention of the Board or the Governor's office," as per The Oklahoman.
'Killed three people in 2021'
He murdered three people in 2021, including Andrea Blankenship, 41, Leon Pye, 67, and Kaeos Yates, 4. He murdered Blankenship, then severed her heart and carried it to his aunt and uncle's house. According to authorities, Anderson cooked the heart with a side of potatoes and served it to them, before murdering Pye and Yates and seriously hurting his aunt.
'He is never going to get out of prison'
District Attorney Jason Hicks stated, "There's evidence in possession of my office as well as the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that's so shocking, after I reviewed it, it kept me up at night for weeks." The killer was handed five life sentences, which will be served consecutively. "These families have lost pretty much everything. As you can imagine, Delsie Pye lost her husband and one of her grandchildren, and was attacked at the same time. And watched both of those people, watched both of them die, watched Lawrence Anderson take their lives," claimed Hicks. "Basically, what that means is that he is never going to get out of prison," as per Fox 25.