Oldest murderer on death row for 18 years executed in US

Convicted murderer Bigler Stouffer has become the oldest death row prisoner America has executed with lethal injection following his final breaths taken on Thursday morning

A 79-year-old murderer has become the oldest man to be executed in America’s history.

Bigler Stouffer was pronounced dead 16 minutes after receiving a lethal injection at around 10am on Thursday.

The death row inmate had been locked behind bars since he was finally convicted in 2003 of murdering ex-girlfriend, Linda Reaves decades earlier.

Stouffer denied murdering the schoolteacher and seriously injuring her boyfriend, Doug Ivens.

On Thursday the lag met his fate by laughing and joking with his spiritual advisor before uttering his final words, the Mirror reports.

Before being given the deadly dose, Stouffer said: “My request is that my Father forgive them. Thank you.”

The state penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma where Stouffer was executed
On Wednesday night he was given his last meal.

With his life ending at the State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma in a matter of hours, Stouffer was served up a chicken burger, two slices of bread, broccoli, mixed fruit, two biscuits, a fruit drink, one bottle of water.

Stouffer was the first person killed by Oklahoma since the botched lethal injection of John Grant in October which ended a six-year break from the controversial sentence.

Stouffer was convicted and sentenced to death in 2003 after his first conviction and death sentence were overturned.

At a parole board hearing last month, he said Ivens was shot as the two men fought over a gun at Ivens’ home, and that Reaves was dead when he arrived.

“I am totally innocent of the murder of Linda Reaves and my heart goes out to the family of Linda Reaves that have suffered as a result of her murder,” Stouffer told the board during a video appearance from prison.

Despite being shot three times with a .38-caliberpistol, including once in the face, Ivens survived and testified against Stouffer.