Oklahoma carried out the execution of an individual for the 1996 demise of a University of Oklahoma dance scholar—a case that remained unsolved for years until DNA from the crime scene conclusively linked the act to a man incarcerated for burglary.
Anthony Sanchez, 44, succumbed at 10:19 a.m., following the administration of a three-drug injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Despite vehemently professing his innocence in the killing of 21-year-old Juli Busken, Sanchez chose an unconventional path by forgoing a plea for clemency before the state’s Pardon and Parole Board—a decision perceived by many as his final opportunity to spare his life.
“I proclaim my innocence,” uttered Sanchez as he lay restrained on a gurney within the chamber of death.
Expressing dissatisfaction with his former legal representatives, Sanchez extended gratitude to his supporters, including his spiritual adviser present in the chamber, as well as the anti-death penalty group Death Penalty Action. The administration of lethal drugs, commencing with the sedative midazolam, commenced at approximately 10:08 a.m.
At one juncture during the execution, a member of the execution team entered the chamber to rectify an oxygen monitor malfunction reported by prison officials during the procedure.
Shortly before facing execution, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a plea for a stay submitted by Sanchez's new attorney, Eric Allen of Columbus, Ohio, who contended the need for more time to scrutinize the case evidence. Sanchez, convicted of the rape and murder of Juli Busken in 2006, maintained his innocence.
Juli Busken, a Benton, Arkansas, native, was abducted on December 20, 1996, from the parking lot of her Norman apartment complex, just after completing her final semester at the university. Her lifeless body was discovered that evening near Lake Stanley Draper in far southeastern Oklahoma City—bound, raped, and with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
A former ballerina, Busken had graced the stage in numerous dance performances during her tenure at OU and was posthumously honored with a dance scholarship in her name at the College of Fine Arts.
Years later, while serving a sentence for burglary, Sanchez's DNA matched the sperm found on Busken’s clothing at the crime scene. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death.
None of Busken’s family attended the execution, but state Attorney General Gentner Drummond claimed to have conversed with them multiple times in recent months.
“Juli was murdered 26 years, nine months, and one day ago. The family has found closure and peace,” stated Drummond.
Sanchez, in a call to The Associated Press, reiterated his innocence.
“That is fabricated DNA,” Sanchez asserted.
“That is false DNA. That is not my DNA. I’ve been saying that since day one.”
Declining to seek clemency, Sanchez cited skepticism about the likelihood of Gov. Kevin Stitt granting it, even when recommended by the Pardon and Parole Board.
“I’ve sat in my cell and I’ve watched inmate after inmate after inmate get clemency and get denied clemency,” Sanchez remarked.
“Either way, it doesn’t go well for the inmates.”
Drummond maintained that the DNA evidence unequivocally linked Sanchez to Busken’s killing. Drummond stated in a letter that Sanchez’s DNA matched profiles developed from sperm on Ms. Busken’s panties and leotard, with the odds of randomly selecting an individual with the same genetic profile being 1 in 94 trillion among Southwest Hispanics.
“There is no conceivable doubt that Anthony Sanchez is a brutal rapist and murderer who is deserving of the state’s harshest punishment,” Drummond affirmed.
A private investigator hired by an anti-death penalty group contested the DNA evidence, suggesting contamination and miscommunication of evidence strength by an inexperienced lab technician.
Former Cleveland County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall, involved in Sanchez’s trial, affirmed the compelling nature of the DNA evidence but emphasized additional proof tying Sanchez to the killing, including ballistic evidence and a shoe print at the crime scene.
“I know from spending a lot of time on that case, there is not one piece of evidence that pointed to anyone other than Anthony Sanchez,” Kuykendall asserted.
Sanchez is the third inmate executed in Oklahoma this year and the 10th since the state resumed capital punishment in 2021, ending a six-year moratorium due to execution method concerns.
Oklahoma’s next scheduled execution is on Nov. 30, when Phillip Hancock is set to receive a lethal injection for killing two men in Oklahoma City in 2001.
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