09-21-2023, 09:59 PM
Anthony Sanchez executed for 1996 killing of a University of Oklahoma dance student
Anthony Sanchez maintained his innocence with his last words
Pilar Arias By Pilar Arias Fox News
Published September 21, 2023 2:38pm EDT
Fox News Flash top headlines for September 21
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The man convicted of raping and murdering a University of Oklahoma dance student in 1996 was executed Thursday morning.
Anthony Sanchez, 44, was pronounced dead at 10:19 a.m. CT at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester following a three-drug injection. Earlier this year, he rejected his chance for a clemency hearing.
"I’m innocent," Sanchez said as he was strapped to a gurney inside the death chamber. "I didn’t kill nobody."
The case for the murder of 21-year-old Juli Busken, an Arkansas native who had just completed her last semester when she was abducted from the parking lot of her Norman apartment complex on Dec. 20, 1996, went unsolved for years until DNA from the crime scene matched Sanchez, who was serving time for burglary.
OKLAHOMA DEATH ROW INMATE REJECTS CHANCE FOR CLEMENCY, TAKES PARTING SHOT AT REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR
Sanchez’s attorney, Eric Allen of Columbus, Ohio, requested a stay of execution in federal court, claiming he needed more time to go through boxes of evidence in the case. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the request Thursday.
Busken's body was found bound, raped and shot in the head near a lake in southeast Oklahoma City.
She had performed as a ballerina in several dance performances during her tenure at OU and was memorialized at the campus with a dance scholarship in her name at the College of Fine Arts.
Sanchez was convicted and sentenced to die in 2006, after DNA from sperm on Busken's clothing at the crime scene was matched to him.
OKLAHOMA COURT REJECTS DEATH ROW INMATE'S CLAIM BLAMING FATHER FOR RAPE, MURDER
Anthony Sanchez
Anthony Castillo Sanchez, the man charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, sodomy and rape in the 1996 death of University of Oklahoma dance student Jewell ''Juli'' Busken, was executed Thursday. (Associated Press)
Sanchez has long maintained his innocence and did so again in a phone call to The Associated Press earlier this year from death row.
"That is fabricated DNA," Sanchez said. "That is false DNA. That is not my DNA. I've been saying that since day one."
According to information from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections relayed by a reporter with local outlet KOKH, Sanchez requested a last meal featuring chicken fried steak, fried okra, mashed potatoes and gravy, a roll, sweet iced tea and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
No one from Busken's family was at the execution, but state Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he had been in touch with them multiple times in the months prior to the execution.
"Juli was murdered 26 years, nine months and one day ago. The family has found closure and peace," Drummond said.
Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
2 hours ago
1996, that is 26 years ago and part of the reason our justice system isn't working. If you are convicted; you should have a full legal review of your case within 1 year of conviction. If there are no mitigating factors, you death sentence should be complete with one year. Our justice system is b...
Since he was convicted on the DNA evidence in 2006, he should've been executed in 2007. When you have no doubt he is guilty like when you have DNA evidence, there is no need to wait.
3 minutes ago
Fault of liberals
NightMoves
2 minutes ago
A death sentence is a full-employment for attorneys decree - billable hours for one or more firms for 15-25 years, most often at taxpayer expense. Still, it is better that many guilty go free than one innocent be executed. Ideally, NO guilty suspect would escape paying the price, but we don't live ...
gogogadgetcomment
1 minute ago
blame all the billboard attorneys and bleeding heart liberals
Reply
Share
Show 30 more replies
?WillKane?
2 hours ago
Almost 3 decades living off the taxpayer. For those who think it’s a greater punishment to imprison for life, you pay the bill.
1 appeal or 3 years whichever comes first
Taxpayers have a right to a speedy trial and freedom from cruel and unusual taxation.
dowhatsright863
1 hour ago
Speedy trial and speedy execution if found guilt and the sentence was the Death Penalty.
It’s more expensive to execute. Many don’t believe it, but research it and you’ll see. I think the criminal should do hard labor for life in maximum security. Let them have to think about their evil actions. Also, take all TV, computers, books and leisure time away. They don’t deserve a countr...See more
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donaldduck757
4 minutes ago
Nope. A bullet would be just fine.
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sjbuggs
3 minutes ago
He was convicted a decade after the murder.
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kriswallace
2 hours ago
I understand the need to allow time for a complete review and appeal process seeing as how a death sentence is final, but 27 years? It should be able to be done in under 5.
2 hours ago
it shouldn't take 27 years to implement. the appeals process needs revision.
tompost
2 hours ago
If my wife was on Death Row her last meal would be:
"I don’t know. What do you feel like?"
Reply
105
2
Share
13 replies
Michele7773463
2 hours ago
2 years, you get 2 years to come up with evidence proving you are innocent.
Those caught in the act ( Usually on video nowadays ) , or confess to the crime...gassed immediately.
Reply
50
1
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7 replies
Show 7 more replies
BulletToothTony
2 hours ago
One thing I dislike most about the death penalty is that the convicted knows in advance the time and date of their death. Their victims didn't have that. Execution dates should be random and the convicted should have no idea today's the day.
"Sanchez’s attorney, Eric Allen of Columbus, Ohio, requested a stay of execution in federal court, claiming he needed more time to go through boxes of evidence in the case."
25-odd years wasn't enough time?
Nice try on the attorney's part, didn't work. He just wanted some more billable hours....
Almost 27 years post conviction is way too long to torture the girl's family. We need to add speedy penalty to the speedy trial rule. How much money was wasted for 27 years?
It was 17 years. He did the crime in 1996 but was not caught and convicted until 2006.
EDIT: it is why i could not do criminal law. and it was a course at law school. i was at public defenders office and then i got a case i had to do an appeal for a monster convicted of raping and killing a five yr old girl. Good bad or indifferent, me father was dx'd with cancer then and i became his hospice at home. my legal experience completed the legal requirents for me. and i had a mother to support with the office. Elsewise, i was gonna return my Bar Card. How the hell does one defend such scum?
But, with the above case, they claim DNA was only on his clothes. or hers. thing is, he could have been a watcher with a friend. And he got DNA around but did not kill her.
His last words were I am innocent. i didn't kill nobody.
What if? crazy people can lie with the last words from their mouths. Lord I am glad u r handling this and not me.
We did mostly taxes and wills. Wouldn't want to hang around criminals. An attorney is supposed to believe his client is innocent or he should not take the case. And i sincerely doubt many follow that rule.
But i could not have that fragment of doubt in my mind and convict a person to death. Tough job. And we even had a judge killed whom was the father with a similar name to mine. I guess the criminals don't like Judge's decisions. What a horrible world to hang out in.
Anthony Sanchez maintained his innocence with his last words
Pilar Arias By Pilar Arias Fox News
Published September 21, 2023 2:38pm EDT
Fox News Flash top headlines for September 21
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.
The man convicted of raping and murdering a University of Oklahoma dance student in 1996 was executed Thursday morning.
Anthony Sanchez, 44, was pronounced dead at 10:19 a.m. CT at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester following a three-drug injection. Earlier this year, he rejected his chance for a clemency hearing.
"I’m innocent," Sanchez said as he was strapped to a gurney inside the death chamber. "I didn’t kill nobody."
The case for the murder of 21-year-old Juli Busken, an Arkansas native who had just completed her last semester when she was abducted from the parking lot of her Norman apartment complex on Dec. 20, 1996, went unsolved for years until DNA from the crime scene matched Sanchez, who was serving time for burglary.
OKLAHOMA DEATH ROW INMATE REJECTS CHANCE FOR CLEMENCY, TAKES PARTING SHOT AT REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR
Sanchez’s attorney, Eric Allen of Columbus, Ohio, requested a stay of execution in federal court, claiming he needed more time to go through boxes of evidence in the case. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the request Thursday.
Busken's body was found bound, raped and shot in the head near a lake in southeast Oklahoma City.
She had performed as a ballerina in several dance performances during her tenure at OU and was memorialized at the campus with a dance scholarship in her name at the College of Fine Arts.
Sanchez was convicted and sentenced to die in 2006, after DNA from sperm on Busken's clothing at the crime scene was matched to him.
OKLAHOMA COURT REJECTS DEATH ROW INMATE'S CLAIM BLAMING FATHER FOR RAPE, MURDER
Anthony Sanchez
Anthony Castillo Sanchez, the man charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, sodomy and rape in the 1996 death of University of Oklahoma dance student Jewell ''Juli'' Busken, was executed Thursday. (Associated Press)
Sanchez has long maintained his innocence and did so again in a phone call to The Associated Press earlier this year from death row.
"That is fabricated DNA," Sanchez said. "That is false DNA. That is not my DNA. I've been saying that since day one."
According to information from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections relayed by a reporter with local outlet KOKH, Sanchez requested a last meal featuring chicken fried steak, fried okra, mashed potatoes and gravy, a roll, sweet iced tea and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
No one from Busken's family was at the execution, but state Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he had been in touch with them multiple times in the months prior to the execution.
"Juli was murdered 26 years, nine months and one day ago. The family has found closure and peace," Drummond said.
Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
2 hours ago
1996, that is 26 years ago and part of the reason our justice system isn't working. If you are convicted; you should have a full legal review of your case within 1 year of conviction. If there are no mitigating factors, you death sentence should be complete with one year. Our justice system is b...
Since he was convicted on the DNA evidence in 2006, he should've been executed in 2007. When you have no doubt he is guilty like when you have DNA evidence, there is no need to wait.
3 minutes ago
Fault of liberals
NightMoves
2 minutes ago
A death sentence is a full-employment for attorneys decree - billable hours for one or more firms for 15-25 years, most often at taxpayer expense. Still, it is better that many guilty go free than one innocent be executed. Ideally, NO guilty suspect would escape paying the price, but we don't live ...
gogogadgetcomment
1 minute ago
blame all the billboard attorneys and bleeding heart liberals
Reply
Share
Show 30 more replies
?WillKane?
2 hours ago
Almost 3 decades living off the taxpayer. For those who think it’s a greater punishment to imprison for life, you pay the bill.
1 appeal or 3 years whichever comes first
Taxpayers have a right to a speedy trial and freedom from cruel and unusual taxation.
dowhatsright863
1 hour ago
Speedy trial and speedy execution if found guilt and the sentence was the Death Penalty.
It’s more expensive to execute. Many don’t believe it, but research it and you’ll see. I think the criminal should do hard labor for life in maximum security. Let them have to think about their evil actions. Also, take all TV, computers, books and leisure time away. They don’t deserve a countr...See more
Reply
Share
donaldduck757
4 minutes ago
Nope. A bullet would be just fine.
Reply
Share
sjbuggs
3 minutes ago
He was convicted a decade after the murder.
Reply
Share
Show 8 more replies
kriswallace
2 hours ago
I understand the need to allow time for a complete review and appeal process seeing as how a death sentence is final, but 27 years? It should be able to be done in under 5.
2 hours ago
it shouldn't take 27 years to implement. the appeals process needs revision.
tompost
2 hours ago
If my wife was on Death Row her last meal would be:
"I don’t know. What do you feel like?"
Reply
105
2
Share
13 replies
Michele7773463
2 hours ago
2 years, you get 2 years to come up with evidence proving you are innocent.
Those caught in the act ( Usually on video nowadays ) , or confess to the crime...gassed immediately.
Reply
50
1
Share
7 replies
Show 7 more replies
BulletToothTony
2 hours ago
One thing I dislike most about the death penalty is that the convicted knows in advance the time and date of their death. Their victims didn't have that. Execution dates should be random and the convicted should have no idea today's the day.
"Sanchez’s attorney, Eric Allen of Columbus, Ohio, requested a stay of execution in federal court, claiming he needed more time to go through boxes of evidence in the case."
25-odd years wasn't enough time?
Nice try on the attorney's part, didn't work. He just wanted some more billable hours....
Almost 27 years post conviction is way too long to torture the girl's family. We need to add speedy penalty to the speedy trial rule. How much money was wasted for 27 years?
It was 17 years. He did the crime in 1996 but was not caught and convicted until 2006.
EDIT: it is why i could not do criminal law. and it was a course at law school. i was at public defenders office and then i got a case i had to do an appeal for a monster convicted of raping and killing a five yr old girl. Good bad or indifferent, me father was dx'd with cancer then and i became his hospice at home. my legal experience completed the legal requirents for me. and i had a mother to support with the office. Elsewise, i was gonna return my Bar Card. How the hell does one defend such scum?
But, with the above case, they claim DNA was only on his clothes. or hers. thing is, he could have been a watcher with a friend. And he got DNA around but did not kill her.
His last words were I am innocent. i didn't kill nobody.
What if? crazy people can lie with the last words from their mouths. Lord I am glad u r handling this and not me.
We did mostly taxes and wills. Wouldn't want to hang around criminals. An attorney is supposed to believe his client is innocent or he should not take the case. And i sincerely doubt many follow that rule.
But i could not have that fragment of doubt in my mind and convict a person to death. Tough job. And we even had a judge killed whom was the father with a similar name to mine. I guess the criminals don't like Judge's decisions. What a horrible world to hang out in.