Oklahoma City – The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK-CADP) will hold a News Conference on Tuesday, March 13, at 11 a.m. in the State Capitol, Room 419C. They will announce they are asking Governor Mary Fallin for a Stay of Execution for Timothy Shaun Stemple so the family can pursue his legal rights in the courts.
OK-CADP representatives and Shaun’s sister, Jenae Mudock Stucker, will meet with Governor Fallin’s Deputy Counsel Rebecca Frasier on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Stemple is set to be executed this week on Thursday, March 15, at 6 p.m.
”I called an emergency meeting of our board on Sunday to consider this family’s request for our help. We agreed to give our full support to their quest for a Stay,” said OK-CADP Co-Chair Lydia Polley. “This family is so convinced of Shaun’s innocence, and their evidence is so compelling, we decided that they deserve every support possible. Since our state has released ten people from death row who were wrongly convicted, we know the possibility of executing an innocent is real. We hope Governor Fallin will not want us to take that risk in the face of so much doubt.“
Timothy Shaun Stemple was convicted in February 1998 of the 1996 murder of his wife Trisha Stemple. He was sent to death row and has remained there since then. Shaun and his family have maintained his innocence since he was charged.
The family has been pursuing his exoneration since the conviction and has hired forensic experts to provide testimony to counter the state’s evidence that convicted him. All of Mr. Stemple’s appeals have been denied, and the state Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency at a February hearing.
Lydia Polley, OK-CADP Co-Chair will host the conference. Speakers include Rex Friend, Oklahoma City attorney, Rev. Chris Moore, Mayflower Congregational UCC, Constance Johnson, Oklahoma Senator, Bud Welch, Murder Victims for Human Rights, Kenny Fikes, OK-CADP Co-Chair and Jenae Matland Smucker, T. Shaun Stemple’s sister.
The Stemple family says, “We are speaking about this so late because Shaun never waivered in his faith in our justice system. He was convinced that his conviction would be set aside for violation of his constitutional rights. Up until this point, our judicial system has failed. Key witnesses for the prosecution perjured themselves, including the only eyewitness. Scientific evidence shows the murder did not and could not have happened the way the only eyewitness stated it did. Five forensic experts have concluded that Trisha Stemple did not die from a baseball bat beating, as a state medical examiner testified, but from an auto-pedestrian accident.”
The News Conference will be streamed live. If you cannot be present, you can hear the conference online at www.oksenate.gov. At the bottom of the page, under the heading “Live Video,” click “Live Committee Meetings.” Next, click “Room 419C” and you’re into the room to hear everything.
OK-CADP is asking for citizens to call the Governor’s Office at 405-521-2342 to request this Stay.
Barring this act of mercy and caution by Gov. Mary Fallin, Timothy Shaun Stemple – 46 year old son, father, brother, son-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle, nephew, friend, death row prisoner for 13 years – will be executed on Thursday, March 15, 6 p.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
For more information visit www.freeshaun.com or www.okcadp.org.
Tags: press release
