Overview
- The five-member Pardon and Parole Board voted 3–2 to recommend clemency, with Robert Reavis, Kevin Buchanan and Susan Stava in favor and Richard Miller and Sean Malloy opposed.
- Supporters of clemency cited concerns about ineffective trial counsel, disputed jury instructions and undisclosed benefits to witnesses, noting the trial lawyer’s substance abuse and later license suspension.
- Attorney General Gentner Drummond opposed clemency, arguing evidence identifies Wood as the killer and highlighting prison misconduct, and he said he will urge the governor to allow the execution.
- Wood accepted responsibility for the robbery and prison violations but denied stabbing Ronnie Wipf, asserting his late brother Zjaiton (Jake) Wood committed the killing and offering a statement of remorse.
- Appeals alleging withheld evidence are pending before the Oklahoma appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court, and Stitt has granted clemency only once during his tenure.