By Death Penalty Information Center – Posted on Nov 13, 2025 | Updated on Nov 17, 2025

On November 13, 2025, just hours before Tremane Wood was sched­uled for exe­cu­tion, Governor Kevin Stitt accept­ed the rec­om­men­da­tion of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board and reduced Mr. Wood’s sen­tence to life with­out parole. In a state­ment, Gov. Stitt said, ​“This action reflects the same pun­ish­ment his broth­er received for their mur­der of an inno­cent young man and ensures a severe pun­ish­ment that keeps a vio­lent offend­er off the streets for­ev­er. In Oklahoma, we will con­tin­ue to hold account­able those who com­mit vio­lent crimes, deliv­er­ing jus­tice, safe­guard­ing our com­mu­ni­ties, and respect­ing the rule of law. I pray for the fam­i­ly of Ronnie Wipf and for the sur­viv­ing vic­tim, Arnie; they are mod­els of Christian for­give­ness and love.”

Mr. Wood’s broth­er con­fessed to the crime and received a life sen­tence. Mr. Wood has con­sis­tent­ly main­tained his inno­cence. The sur­viv­ing vic­tim of the crime, Arnold Kleinsasser, and the moth­er of mur­der vic­tim Ronnie Wipf both opposed Mr. Wood’s exe­cu­tion. At Mr. Wood’s clemen­cy hear­ing, his attor­ney, Amanda Bass Castro Alves, said, ​“The com­pas­sion and the mer­cy that the vic­tims in this case have extend­ed to Tremane, root­ed in their life-affirm­ing Christian val­ues and in their recog­ni­tion that we have all fall­en short is noth­ing short of trans­for­ma­tive. Mrs. Wipf and Arnold [Kleinsasser] are show­ing Tremane — and in fact, are show­ing all of us — that even when irrepara­ble harm has been inflict­ed, there is a path for­ward beyond vengeance, a path for­ward that is instead paved by for­give­ness, by com­pas­sion and by mercy.”

This is the sixth grant of clemen­cy for a death row pris­on­er in Oklahoma since 1972. Governor Stitt last grant­ed clemen­cy in 2021, when he reduced Julius Jones’ sen­tence to life with­out parole due to con­cerns about Mr. Jones’ pos­si­ble inno­cence. Mr. Wood is the sec­ond death-sen­tenced per­son in the U.S. to receive clemen­cy in 2025. In February, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey reduced the death sen­tence of Robin ​“Rocky” Myers to life without parole.

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Tags: clemency, death penalty, oklahoma, Tremane Wood