The State Of Oklahoma is set to execute Anthony Sanchez for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of Jewell Jean “Juli” Busken
According to court documents Anthony Sanchez would kidnap Jewell Jean “Juli” Busken who was a student at the University Of Oklahoma. The young woman would be sexually assaulted and murdered.
The brutal crime which took place in 1996 would go unsolved until Anthony Sanchez went to prison in 2004 for a burglary. In 2006 a cold case team would match Anthony Sanchez DNA to that found at the Jewell Jean “Juli” Busken crime scene
Anthony Sanchez would be convicted and sentenced to death
Anthony Sanchez is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on September 21, 2023 at 10:00 local time
Anthony Sanchez was executed on September 21 2023
Anthony Sanchez News
Oklahoma is set to execute the third death row inmate of the year on Thursday morning.
Anthony Sanchez, 44, was convicted for the 1996 rape and shooting death of Juli Busken at Lake Stanley Draper, after she was abducted from a Norman apartment complex.
Sanchez’s conviction was based on DNA evidence collected when he went to prison in 2002 on a second-degree burglary charge. In 2004, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation matched his DNA with evidence from the Busken case.
Sanchez has maintained his innocence and claims his late father Thomas Sanchez confessed to the crime before committing suicide in 2022.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously denied his appeal in April, saying those allegations were not enough to overcome the “compelling evidence” against him.
In June, Sanchez rejected the opportunity to have a clemency hearing before the state Pardon and Parole Board.
“The state always seems to come out on top,” Sanchez said at the time. “Even when it doesn’t, Governor [Kevin] Stitt is more than willing to make sure that death wins in the end. Why would someone like me participate in such a process?”
More recently, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond rejected a request by state Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, to reprocess DNA evidence in the case. Drummond said the DNA had already been reprocessed, with “overwhelming” results showing Anthony Sanchez’s guilt.
Sanchez is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
He will be the tenth person to be executed by Oklahoma since the state resumed the practice in 2021. One more man is slated to be put to death this year.