Cont. News: Okla Pardons Board Recommends Clemency for Tremane Wood
Regan Bowlby
Cont. News: Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Recommends Clemency for Tremane Wood
The Frontier: A brother confessed to murder and got life without parole. Tremane Wood got death
CBS News: Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week
KFOR: Client of OK attorney who abused alcohol and cocaine set to be executed
City News OKC: Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Recommends Clemency for Tremane Wood, attorney Amanda Bass Castro-Alves comments
KOCO: 'Please save my son's life': Family of Oklahoma death row inmate makes emotional plea to governor
KOCO: Oklahoma board urges Gov. Kevin Stitt to spare convicted murderer’s life
KJRH: 'I cried' | Close friend of Tremane Wood reacts to clemency recommendation
Davis Vanguard: Tremane Wood’s Execution Delayed as Board Votes for Clemency
Tyla: Man on death row facing execution soon despite brother admitting to crime
A brother confessed to murder and got life without parole. Tremane Wood got death
Tremane Wood’s case has become a flashpoint over the state’s use of the death penalty as Gov. Kevin Stitt weighs whether to grant mercy.
Ashlynd Baecht, November 6, 2025
Prosecutors only had to show that Tremane Wood took part in a robbery for him to be convicted of murder. The case haunts Jera Burton, who was 24 years old when she served as the jury foreperson in 2004 in Oklahoma County District Court.
The court sentenced Wood to death, even though his brother confessed to the killing,
Evidence presented at Wood’s trial was minimal, Burton told The Frontier.
Burton said that she walked into the courtroom crying after four hours of deliberations because she felt pressured to change her vote to guilty.
“I don’t feel like that is a call that any human should be able to make. I don’t feel like justice is being served by ending another person’s life just because we lost one, especially if the other surviving victim is totally against it,” Burton said.
Now Burton is trying to stop Wood’s execution. She said she regrets voting in favor of sentencing Wood to death and wishes she had stood up for what she felt 20 years ago. If she had, Wood might not be facing death next week.
Wood’s case has sparked controversy across the state as supporters try to save his life, claiming his case highlights problems with Oklahoma’s death penalty.
On New Year’s Eve in 2001, Wood and his brother, Zjaiton Jake Wood, enlisted two female friends to pose as prostitutes and lure men to a local hotel, where the brothers would attack and rob them at knife and gunpoint, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office. Two travelling workers, including Ronald Wipf, were the group’s second robbery of the night.
Both Wood brothers wore masks, trench coats and leather gloves. Tremane had a knife, and Zjaiton had a gun.
One traveler survived the attack and escaped but couldn’t say who killed Wipf because he didn’t witness the stabbing, and the attackers wore masks.
The state argued that Wood must have killed Wipf because he had a knife for both robberies. But the prosecution didn’t even have to prove that Wood stabbed Wipf. When someone dies during the commission of another felony, prosecutors can charge all participants with murder, even if they didn’t intend to kill anyone.
The crime is called felony murder. At a hearing at the Oklahoma Capitol last year, a federal public defender said a jury can find someone guilty of murder and recommend the death penalty, even without establishing the defendant was responsible for a killing.
Wood has always denied stabbing Wipf.
“It’s important to me that, you know, I am flawed and in many ways, a broken human being with the pressures of life hanging in the balance. It gets tough trying to balance it all, but I’m not a monster. I’m not a killer. I never was, and I never have been,” Wood said at his clemency hearing on Wednesday.
One of Wood’s attorneys, Amanda Bass Castro Alves, told The Frontier that felony murder is an easy way for prosecutors to secure a conviction.
“So it is an easy way for prosecutors to seek the death penalty and to make someone eligible for the death penalty without having to prove beyond a reasonable doubt those two critical elements, intent to kill, and that you yourself took a human life,” she said.
The Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office charged the Wood brothers and the two women involved in the attack with first-degree murder, but only Tremane was sentenced to death.
One woman was convicted of accessory to murder after the fact and conspiracy to commit a felony and sentenced to 45 years in prison and the other received life in prison with the possibility of parole for the murder and 101 years for the robbery. Zjaiton was sentenced to life without parole.
While Zjaiton confessed to the killing, he also said his brother wasn’t present during the robbery, which conflicted with accounts from other witnesses. Zjaiton died in prison by suicide in 2019.
Wood’s supporters say he had poor legal representation. The Oklahoma Bar Association suspended Wood’s attorney in 2006 because he struggled with alcohol and cocaine addiction, according to court records. He was eventually reinstated after completing substance abuse treatment.
After completing rehab, he apologized for providing Wood poor representation.
New allegations emerge
As Wood’s attorneys try to stop his execution with a flurry of new court filings, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has accused him of orchestrating crimes from death row with contraband cell phones. The Attorney General’s office submitted copies of text messages and photos to the Pardon and Parole Board that it claims show Wood is involved in gang activity, selling drugs and ordering hits on other prisoners. Some photos appear to show Wood posing with wads of cash and drugs.
Drummond has argued that Wood is still a danger to society.
“Clemency is not a right; it is an act of mercy considered only for those who, at minimum, demonstrate genuine remorse and moral transformation. Tremane Wood has done neither,” Drummond told the Pardon and Parole Board on Wednesday. “His continued predatory conduct reveals a recidivistic and deeply malignant mindset, one that remains as dangerous behind bars as it was on the night that he took the innocent life of Ronnie Wipf.”
Wood’s attorneys claim Drummond’s new allegations have unfairly prejudiced the court and violated his constitutional rights. Attorneys claim in a brief filed at the U.S. Supreme Court this week that Drummond secretly emailed the presiding judge at the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals about the gang allegations while the court was considering setting Wood’s execution date.
Wood admitted to the Pardon and Parole Board that he had made poor choices in his life, including from death row.
“Being in this place is a lot like being in quicksand,” he said. “The more you struggle trying to get out, sometimes the deeper you sink into the culture. It’s not something I’m proud of.”
Even after the recent misconduct surfaced, letters of support have poured in for Wood. The Pardon and Parole said it has received 215 letters and emails urging the board to recommend clemency. The agency has also received over 1,500 emails supporting Wood through an online campaign since July, according to a spokesperson
Barbara Wipf, the victim’s mom, told HuffPost that she doesn’t support the death penalty because of her faith.
Castro Alves said Wood’s case illustrates a flawed criminal justice system.
“I think it shocks and disturbs people because the death penalty is supposed to be — under the Supreme Court’s and the Constitution standard— reserved for the worst of the worst murderers who commit the most heinous murders,” she said.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Wood. It’s now up to Gov. Kevin Stitt to decide whether to continue with the execution or commute Wood’s sentence.
___
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oklahoma-board-recommendation-clemency-inmate-execution/
Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week
Emily Mae Czachor, November 6, 2025
A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester.
Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show.
The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Sitt has granted clemency to one other death row inmate in his nearly seven years of service as governor. That inmate, Julius Jones, received a commutation to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the day his execution was supposed to take place in 2021. The governor's decision came as Jones' case sparked huge public outcry and people questioned the legitimacy of his guilt in the murder case that led to his death sentence.
Earlier, both Jones and Wood were part of the same 2017 lawsuit that alleged Oklahoma's application of capital punishment was racist and unconstitutionally biased, and sought to overturn their death sentences, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that provides data and analyses about capital punishment but does not take a position on it.
In Wood's case, the inmate and his attorneys have repeatedly maintained his innocence in Wipf's murder and suggested that Wood's brother, Zjaiton Wood, was responsible for the killing while Wood only participated in the botched robbery that ultimately turned deadly.
Wood's brother received a lifetime prison sentence and died while incarcerated in 2019, The Associated Press reported. Before his death, Zjaiton Wood allegedly told multiple people that he was the one who committed the murder, said Tremane Wood's attorney, Amanda Bass Castro Alves, according to the AP.
Although Wood's attorneys argued that he did not receive fair or adequate legal representation at his original trial or subsequent appeals, and claimed some elements of how the prosecution handled his case violated the inmate's constitutional rights, the state of Oklahoma has over the last two decades insisted that Wood is a dangerous criminal who continued to be involved with drugs and gangs behind bars. Wood has admitted to such conduct during his incarceration but continues to insist he did not have a part in Wipf's death.
"I'm not a monster. I'm not a killer. I never was and I never have been," Wood said in video testimony shown during a recent hearing with the Pardon and Parole Board, AP reported. "Not a day goes by in my life that I do not think about Ronnie and how much his mom and dad are suffering because they don't have their son any more."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
___
https://kfor.com/news/local/client-of-ok-attorney-who-abused-alcohol-and-cocaine-set-to-be-executed/
Client of OK attorney who abused alcohol and cocaine set to be executed
Dylan Brown, November 6, 2025
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for an Oklahoma man on death row after finding out that his original attorney had several issues.
On Wednesday, the Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Wood, and now the case rests in Governor Stitt’s hands.
“Stitt, if you hear this, as one last act of human compassion while you are in office, please save my son’s life,” said Tremane’s mother, Linda Wood Wednesday after the recommendation came down.
The Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 on Wednesday, recommending clemency in the death penalty case of Tremane Wood, the Oklahoma City man who was convicted of murder in 2002.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond was at the hearing giving a case against clemency, but ultimately failed.
“After this dangerous criminal took a young man’s life, he stayed fully active in the criminal world from behind bars. I am disappointed by the Pardon and Parole Board’s decision today, but I appreciate their thoughtful deliberation. My office will continue to pursue justice for Ronnie Wipf. We intend to make our case to the governor on why clemency should not be granted and why the death sentence, as determined by a jury, should be carried out,” said Attorney General Gentner Drummond.
Wood was convicted of fatally stabbing 19-year-old Ronald (Ronnie) Wipf during an early morning robbery with his brother, Jake, at an Oklahoma City motel on New Year’s Day in 2002.
The jury found Tremane to be the one who killed Wipf and sentenced him to death, while his brother received a life sentence.
Jake admitted that he was the one who ultimately killed Wipf.
The board on Wednesday said that it didn’t seem like Tremane got a fair trial back then. Specifically pointing to his state-appointed attorney, Johnny Albert.
“Is it true that there was a failure to give the jury instruction? That was not given in his trial. Is that accurate?” That’s what one board member asked the State Attorney General’s Office. “Yes,” they said.
The attorney for Tremane Wood, Amanda Bass, is the same one who worked for Julius Jones back in 2021. It was then that Govenror stitt decided to commute his sentence the day that he was to be executed.
She said this seems like a clear-cut case of clemency.
“I’m not sure why the attorney general is not standing up for fairness,” said Bass to News 4 on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the AG’s Office relied heavily on pointing the board to the fact that Wood has had contraband cellphones and sold drugs while in prison. But the first thing one board member mentioned was that the case isn’t about the actions he’s taken since, but it’s about whether his trial was fair. If he got the death sentence appropriately.
“Did this man have adequate representation. I would appreciate your answer, and we’ll have to live with it,” said one board member to the AG’s team.
A big issue board members had was the fact that Wood’s attorney abused alcohol and cocaine around the same time he took on Wood’s case.
It’s not just that; he had two other clients on death row around the same time: James Fisher and Keary Littlejohn.
In 2006, Albert had his license suspended for a short while because he abused drugs and alcohol. According to court records, there were eleven complaints surrounding him and how he didn’t talk to any of his clients.
Fisher and Littlejohn were able to have the courts hear their cases again. They both got off of death row, with one of them even being released on probation.
But Wood didn’t get that same privilege even though his case was around the same time.
Also, Albert sent a note on the back of his business card to Wood after his sentence that read in part, “I’m sorry for everything in the past. You got me at a bad time, and it’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
“When you’re asking for the death penalty, there is a high standard, and I’m not sure this attorney met that high standard. It’s an embarrassment,” said one board member.
Bass told News 4 that the AG’s team lied a couple of times during the hearing, like when they were asked why the victim’s family’s statements weren’t in their clemency packet.
“It’s our understanding that the victim’s family didn’t want to be involved,” said one of the members of the AG’s team.
But, Ronnie’s mother spoke with HuffPo recently and said specifically about Wood, “They should let him live. I don’t think they should execute him.”
“She said that she is a Christian and that we all sin and have fallen short. That they have forgiven him and that this (Wood’s execution) is not going to bring Ronnie Wipf back,” said Bass.
According to an obituary on Legacy.com, Albert died in 2018.
The Governor’s Office responded after the clemency recommendation, “Governor Stitt will follow the same process he does following every clemency recommendation. He will meet with the defendant’s attorneys, the attorney general’s office, and the victim’s family to ensure he has all the information needed to make a decision. He does not take the process lightly.”
Wood is set to be executed on November 13th.
___
Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Recommends Clemency for Tremane Wood, attorney Amanda Bass Castro-Alves comments
Staff, November 7, 2025
On Wednesday, November 5, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended that Tremane Wood’s death sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment without parole.
Governor Kevin Stitt now has the authority under state law to grant clemency to Mr. Wood and commute his death sentence. Mr. Wood is scheduled to be executed on November 13.
During today’s clemency hearing, members of the Board expressed what a press release from Wood's attorney characterized as "concerns about the egregious unfairness attendant to Mr. Wood’s felony murder conviction. Among the serious errors Board members highlighted were the failures of Mr. Wood’s trial lawyer, the trial prosecutors, and the trial court to ensure the jury was properly instructed on findings that the law required prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt before Mr. Wood could even be eligible for the death penalty in a felony murder case.
"The Board members also highlighted that prosecutors are ministers of justice and it was unfair for the trial prosecutors in Mr. Wood’s case to take inconsistent positions about who killed Ronnie Wipf at Mr. Wood’s trial and at his brother’s trial. Mr. Wood’s brother confessed to being the actual killer and received a life sentence. In addition to the victims’ calls for mercy for Mr. Wood, the jury foreperson has testified before the Oklahoma Legislature that she wanted to impose a life sentence on Mr. Wood but was given wrong information by the trial court, and was pressured into voting for death."
In a statement to CityNewsOKC.com, commenting on the Board's recommendation, Amanda Bass-Castro Alves, attorney for Tremane Wood, said:
“We are grateful to the Board for carefully considering all of the evidence showing that Tremane’s death sentence is excessive and is the direct result of a trial lawyer who abandoned him and who failed to give the jury all the information it needed to reach a fair and reliable decision over his punishment.
"The Board’s clemency recommendation today restores public faith that, when confronted with manifest miscarriages of justice, criminal justice system actors can, and will, intercede to correct course and prevent those from occurring. Given the facts that Tremane is facing execution for a felony murder conviction where he did not kill anyone, where the confessed killer received a life sentence and is now deceased, and where the victims have also publicly called for mercy for Tremane, we hope Governor Stitt will accept the Board’s recommendation and agree that clemency is warranted in this case.”
The Board's vote was 3-2.
Family and Advocates had pressed for Mercy
Last Sunday, members of Wood's family, community advocates and supporters from across the day held a Day of Action "to call for mercy and justice for the death row prisoner."
Action events included morning sermons calling for mercy. That event was held at a community gathering place on the northeast side of Oklahoma City.
At an afternoon event, held at Second Story Books, speakers presented collected support letters and petitions, shared excerpts of comments from around the region, and stressed the messages for mercy and system reform.
Wood's attorney and others encouraged participants in Sunday's events to watch the clemency hearing (which took place at the Metro Technology Center, 1900 Springlake drive in Oklahoma City).
Beyond coverage in CapitolBeatOK.com, an online news organization based in Oklahoma City, the case has drawn nationwide attention, including in a detailed HuffPost feature (released Saturday, November 1). Readers can study that report at this link:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oklahoma-prepares-to-execute-tremane-wood_n_69028fb1e4b0caf9a35179e5 )
___
'Please save my son's life': Family of Oklahoma death row inmate makes emotional plea to governor
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has recommended clemency for Tremane Wood, convicted of murder, leaving his fate in the hands of Governor Kevin Stitt.
Alyse Jones, November 5, 2025
The life of a convicted murderer now rests in the hands of Oklahoma's governor.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, convicted of murder, ahead of his scheduled Nov. 13 execution. The board's decision was based on claims that Tremane's attorney more than 20 years ago failed to adequately represent him.
Tremane's family made an emotional plea to the governor.
"We’re more than thankful for the clemency board doing this. They didn’t have to grant my uncle clemency, but they saw what Oklahoma has done is wrong to my uncle and how they treat him. The injustice in his trials, they finally saw everything, and I’m glad they granted him clemency because he deserves it. He really does," Brooklyn Wood, Tremane's niece, said.
Tremane Wood was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of 19-year-old Ronnie Wipf.
"My uncle is not a monster. He's not," Andreyana Wood, Tremane's niece, said.
The board's recommendation marks the first step in potentially sparing his life, with the final decision resting with Stitt.
"Gov. Stitt, if you hear this, as one last act of human compassion while you are in office, please, please save my son's life. His life is in your hands now," Linda Wood, Tremane's mother, said.
Since Gov. Stitt took office, the Pardon and Parole Board has recommended clemency in four cases, but he has granted clemency only once, in 2021 for Julius Jones.
During his tenure, 16 people have been executed.
The board said death penalty cases require a high bar.
"You’re asking and the state of Oklahoma is asking the board to approve an execution of a man who’s been convicted of murder. Not every inmate convicted of murder gets the death penalty, so I think this is a little different case than normal," a board member said.
Tremane's family is now begging Stitt to side with the board and the bar they set.
"In a perfect world, we would love for him to come home. He has done enough time for his role in this, but as long as his life is spared, we can deal with whatever else happens. Commuted to life without, we can deal with that. He’s still alive and breathing on this earth," Linda said.
Stitt's office released a statement Wednesday afternoon on the clemency hearing.
"Governor Stitt will follow the same process he does following every clemency recommendation. He will meet with the defendant’s attorneys, the attorney general’s office, and the victim’s family to ensure he has all the information needed to make a decision. He does not take the process lightly," officials withing Stitt's office wrote.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond voiced his disappointment in the board's decision and plans to urge Stitt to uphold the jury's original sentence.
Tremane's attorney released a statement to KOCO 5 after the clemency recommendation. Read the full statement below:
"We are grateful to the Board for carefully considering all of the evidence showing that Tremane’s death sentence is excessive and is the direct result of a trial lawyer who abandoned him and who failed to give the jury all the information it needed to reach a fair and reliable decision over his punishment. The Board’s clemency recommendation today restores public faith that, when confronted with manifest miscarriages of justice, criminal justice system actors can, and will, intercede to correct course and prevent those from occurring. Given the facts that Tremane is facing execution for a felony murder conviction where he did not kill anyone, where the confessed killer received a life sentence and is now deceased, and where the victims have also publicly called for mercy for Tremane, we hope Governor Stitt will accept the Board’s recommendation and agree that clemency is warranted in this case," said Amanda Bass Castro-Alves, an attorney for Tremane.
___
https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-board-urges-gov-kevin-stitt-spare-tremane-wood-life/69266792
Oklahoma board urges Gov. Kevin Stitt to spare convicted murderer’s life
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has voted to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, urging Gov. Kevin Stitt to spare his life a week before his scheduled execution.
Alyse Jones, November 5, 2025
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has voted to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a convicted murderer, urging Gov. Kevin Stitt to spare his life a week before his scheduled execution.
The board's decision was influenced by concerns over whether Wood had been fairly represented by his attorney during his trial.
The board voted 3-2 in favor of recommending clemency, with members Robert Reavis, Kevin Buchanan and Susan Stava supporting the recommendation, while Richard Miller and Sean Malloy opposed it.
The decision brought shock and relief to Wood's family. Wood was convicted of robbing and killing 19-year-old Ronnie Wipf at an Oklahoma City motel in 2002. During the hearing, Wood's attorneys claimed that his brother, Jake Wood, was the actual killer and that Wood was not well-represented in court.
Reavis expressed doubts about the quality of Wood's legal representation. "When you’re asking for the death penalty, there’s a high standard, and I’m not sure this attorney met that high standard,” Reavis said. "You can address it, and I’d like for you to, because it’s an embarrassment."
Wood also addressed the board, expressing remorse for his actions.
"We are here today because of my actions and my decisions, which robbed Ronnie Wipf not only of money but contributed to him being robbed of his life," Wood said.
However, the office of Attorney General Gentner Drummond argued that Wood was putting on a front, pointing to multiple violations and crimes he had committed while in prison.
Wood and AG DrummondReactions pour in as Pardon and Parole Board recommends clemency for death row inmate Tremane Wood
Drummond expressed disappointment with the board's decision and plans to urge Stitt to proceed with the execution despite the recommendation for clemency.
Oklahoma death row inmate accused of orchestrating crimes from prison
Get the latest news stories of interest by clicking here.
The final decision now rests with Stitt, who will determine Wood's fate.
Stitt's office released a statement Wednesday afternoon on the clemency hearing.
"Governor Stitt will follow the same process he does following every clemency recommendation. He will meet with the defendant’s attorneys, the attorney general’s office, and the victim’s family to ensure he has all the information needed to make a decision. He does not take the process lightly," officials withing Stitt's office wrote.
___
'I cried' | Close friend of Tremane Wood reacts to clemency recommendation
Brodie Myers, November 6, 2025
The fate of Tremane Wood is in Gov. Kevin Stitt’s hands.
Wood was sentenced to death, after a jury convicted him in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf. During a Nov. 5 meeting,the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Wood.
“When I finally seen it come down, I cried,” Remegrac Frye, a close friend of Wood said.
Frye is an advocate against the death penalty. Through her work, she connected with Wood. The two have since become close friends. In fact, it was Wood who recently supported Frye.
“I had lost a family member, and he was there. You know, sending the message every morning: good morning, Remey, have a good day. Just giving me words of encouragement. He kinda just flipped the script. Instead of me being that person he would kinda be the person for me,” Frye said.
Gov. Stitt has not yet commented on the potential decision.
On the other hand, Attorney General Gentner Drummond has made his thoughts clear, encouraging Stitt to deny clemency.
Drummond accuses Wood of storing contraband cellphones and dealing drugs in prison.
“After this dangerous criminal took a young man’s life, he stayed fully active in the criminal world from behind bars. I am disappointed by the pardon and parole board's decision today but appreciate their thoughtful deliberation,” Drummond said, in a written statement.
“I disagree [with Drummond]. That’s not Tremane. I disagree. I don’t know where that came from, that’s not his character at all,” Frye said.
No matter what Drummond says, the decision is Gov. Stitt’s.
Just once, in his tenure, has he commuted a death sentence. That was in the case of Julius Jones, in 2021.
Frye said she would tell Gov. Stitt to “have compassion. Tremane deserves this clemency. He deserves a second chance. He doesn’t deserve to die. So have compassion.”
Wood is set for a Nov. 13 execution, barring a commutation by Gov. Stitt.
___
https://davisvanguard.org/2025/11/oklahoma-death-penalty-controversy/
Tremane Wood’s Execution Delayed as Board Votes for Clemency
Kaitlyn Majlesi and Carly Cooper, November 7, 2025
On Nov. 5, 2025, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 in favor of granting clemency to 46-year-old Tremane Wood, a death row prisoner convicted in the 2002 fatal stabbing of Ronnie Wipf, according to a press release from the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (OK-CADP).
The board’s decision delays Wood’s scheduled execution, planned for Nov. 13, and now awaits review by Gov. Kevin Stitt, who will make the final determination. The vote comes amid renewed scrutiny of Oklahoma’s death penalty procedures and concerns about how the case was handled, according to OK-CADP.
Dr. Elizabeth Overman, chair of the OK-CADP, said the state had “bungled Tremane’s case from beginning to end, including making fraudulent plea agreements to obtain a conviction.”
She stated that Wood “was not adequately represented at court. The District Attorney did not make sure that the trial was fair,” and that the “family of the victim is asking that Oklahoma not execute Tremane.”
She further argued that the state’s continued handling of the case had raised serious concerns about due process, noting that the “state claims that elaborate illegal activity is taking place while someone is in prison, making a case against a person without affording that person due process.” This pattern of overreach and procedural disregard in capital prosecutions is a core concern for many advocates of abolishing the death penalty.
Dr. Overman also highlighted systemic issues at play in Wood’s sentence, calling the death penalty “the product” of a “deeply faulty system which obviates justice under the guise of being tough on crime.”
She asserted that the board’s decision serves as a recognition that “justice at the hands of the state has been miscarried,” emphasizing that “executing an innocent man does not make Oklahoma a safer or more orderly state.”
The vote marks the latest chapter in a broader pattern of controversy surrounding Oklahoma’s death penalty system, according to OK-CADP. The board’s recommendation now moves to Gov. Stitt, who will decide whether to accept or reject clemency.
For now, Wood remains on death row as the decision is weighed. The OK-CADP argues that this case underscores continuing questions regarding fairness, due process, and the role of clemency in correcting potential miscarriages of justice within the state’s capital punishment system.
___
https://www.tyla.com/news/crime/death-row-tremane-wood-oklahoma-brother-admitted-044460-20251107
Man on death row facing execution soon despite brother admitting to crime
Tremane Wood was handed the death penalty in 2002
Britt Jones, November 7, 2025
A man is waiting to be put to death, even though his sibling admitted to being the one who committed the crime.
Tremane Wood, along with his older brother Jake and two women, were charged with first-degree murder in 2002 for the murder of Ronnie Wipf.
Wipf died of a dingle stab wound during a botched robbery, and while Wood claimed innocence in the murder, under Oklahoma’s felony murder statute, prosecutors do not have to prove a single person killed the victim, only that they participated in the crime.
It was alleged that the two men arranged with the women, which included an ex-girlfriend of Wood, that they would rob Wipf and Arnold Kleinsasser after pretending they would exchange the money for sex with the two women.
Before the sex could happen in a motel room, the men stormed the room and stabbed Wipf.
At the time, Wood was being represented by Johnny Albert, a lawyer who confessed to struggling with alcohol during his work with the defendant.
His family say this culminated in Wood being given the death sentence, while his older brother, who testified that he had killed Wipf, received a life sentence.
Along with claiming all but one Black juror was removed from the jury, who allegedly said she felt pressure by the white jurors to dish out a death sentence. She also claimed vital information was kept from the jury.
Little did the jury know that Wood was pressured by his brother to participate in the robbery, nor were they told about the profound remorse he had after the incident, his allegedly abusive upbringing and lack of support to help with his trauma.
The star witness, who is also the mother of Wood’s eldest son, told HuffPost she doesn’t want him to die.
So did the surviving victim of the robbery, and the mother of Wipf, but Oklahoma’s top prosecutor Gentner Drummond has allegedly been hellbent on delivering the death penalty.
Now, Wood faces his death on 13 November, but his family are campaigning for justice as Wood asks for his trial to be reevaluated on the basis of alleged dirty tactics from the prosecution.
They set up the Tremane Wood Foundation to petition for his sentence to be looked at again..
Sadly, the family lost Jake to suicide in 2019 in his cell after Wood became eligible for execution.
Right now, they are trying to prevent the loss of another family member.