Oklahoma executes death row inmate convicted of killing elderly couple

Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Oklahoma executed Scott James Eizember Thursday by lethal injection. He was convicted of killing an elderly couple in 2003.

As he was strapped to a gurney with IV in his left arm, Eizember said, "I'm at peace. My conscience is clear, completely. I love my children." He spoke with Rev. Jeffrey Hood as the lethal drugs went into his arm, lifting his head while mouthing the words "I love you" as he looked toward his daughter.

He was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m. Thursday.

Eizember used a shotgun to shoot and bludgeon A.J. Cantrell, 76, and his wife Patsy Cantrell, 70, after breaking into their Depew, Oklahoma home.

Police searched for Eizember during a 37-day manhunt after the murders as he fled to Arkansas, abducting a doctor and his wife as he forced them to drive him hundreds of miles. During a restroom stop the doctor was able to get his own pistol and shoot Eizember.

Eizember was also convicted of trying to kill his girlfriend's 16-year-old son as well as assaulting his ex-girlfriend's mother with a dangerous weapon.

He was the eighth person executed in Oklahoma since 2021.

Eizember filed a federal court complaint Monday after Rev. Hood was barred from being with Eizember during the execution. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections reversed the decision Wednesday, allowing Rev. Hood to be present.

Oklahoma is one of six states that carry out the most execution in the United States and has 42 inmates on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.