MCALESTER, Okla., Jan. 12 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma man thanked his "buddies" on death row Tuesday as he was put to death for killing his great-uncle during a 1994 robbery.
Jeffrey David Matthews, 38, was the second man executed in Oklahoma in two weeks. He received three stays of execution last year.
The victim, Otis Earl Short, 77, was attacked in his McClain County home. Prosecutors said Matthews shot Short in the head, and an accomplice cut the throat of Minnie Short, although she survived. The two men spent two hours ransacking the house before leaving with $500 and a gun.
Banging from death row was audible in the execution chamber, The Oklahoman reported.
"I just want to thank everyone for their support," Matthews said. "I also want to thank all my buddies on death row. I hear you banging."
He also asked a witness to give his mother his love.
State Attorney General Scott Pruitt witnessed the execution.
"My prayers are with the Short family and I am hopeful that justice being carried out on behalf of the victims today will help bring closure and healing," Pruitt said in a statement that called Matthews' crime "exceptionally brutal."
Last week, Oklahoma executed Billy Don Alverson of Tulsa, one of four men convicted of killing convenience store clerk Richard Yost in 1995.