Who is Anthony Sanchez? Oklahoma man scheduled to be executed on September 21 for 1996 murder of OSU student
MCALESTER, OKLAHOMA: Anthony Sanchez, 44, is a death row inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, scheduled to be given the lethal injection on Thursday, September 21 at 9 am.
Anthony was convicted for the murder of the 21-year-old Oklahoma State University student Jewell "Juli" Busken in 1996.
Busken originally hailed from Benton, Arkansas, and was a ballerina student. On December 20, 1996, she was kidnapped from her apartment complex in Norman. In the evening of the same day, authorities found her dead body in the Lake Stanley Draper area.
She was said to have been raped and shot in the head, per Newsweek.
The case remained unsolved for years until Sanchez was identified from the DNA extracted from Busken’s leotard.
In 2006, Sanchez was convicted of the rape and murder of the ballerina and was sentenced to death.
Anthony Sanchez's lawyers claimed his father is the real murderer
Sanchez, however, always maintained his innocence. His lawyers have suggested that it was his father Thomas Glen Sanchez who really killed Busken.
"I did not kill Juli Busken," said Sanchez in an earlier interview to Newsweek from his jail cell.
In April 2023, a federal judge denied a stay order on his execution citing there wasn’t enough “compelling evidence” to nullify Sanchez’s guilt, per The Associated Press.
This month, Sanchez’s attorney Eric Allen filed an appeal with a federal circuit court and told Newsweek, "My hope is that the courts will see fit to stop this execution.”
He added, "If not, I would call on Governor Stitt to grant a reprieve in this matter so that I may review some fifty boxes of case materials that only came into my possession last Friday and sit in an office building in Oklahoma City.”
“This will allow time to investigate further evidence of Anthony's innocence,” commented the attorney.
When will Anthony Sanchez be executed?
In June, Sanchez rejected a chance of clemency hearing saying, "There is no greater danger than misplaced hope.”
He added, "For decades, I've watched the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board act as an instrument of approval for even the most significant of injustices.”
Sanchez continued, "Such moments are regularly defined by close votes. However, the State always seems to come out on top. Even when it doesn't, Governor Stitt is more than willing to make sure that death wins in the end. Why would someone like me participate in such a process?"
He is scheduled for the lethal injection at 9 am on Thursday, September 21.
Did Anthony Sanchez commit the crime?
While the DNA extracted from the victim's dress links him to the crime, Sanchez vehemently denies the charge.
In an interview with KFOT TV, Sanchez said, "I know I didn’t do it," before adding, “I have 8 alibi witnesses. Not one lawyer has checked my alibi witnesses."
He added, “Look at the killer’s footprints. They’re a size nine. I wear 11 and a half. I cannot shrink my foot.”
“That’s not my DNA. It can’t be my DNA,” said the convict. “I’m saying that’s a 100% fabrication.”
