McALESTER (Okla.) — A man was executed in Oklahoma Thursday for his involvement in a quadruple murder in 2005.
Gilbert Ray Postelle (35), was lethal injected at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester. Prison officials declared him dead at 10 :14 a.m. This was Oklahoma’s fourth execution in the last seven years.
Postelle was on a gurney, his arms outstretched behind him. He declined to speak and looked at seven witnesses in the room near the execution chamber.
After shaking Postelle’s hand and rubbing his sternum with his skin, a doctor entered the room and declared him unconscious at 10:06 AM.
Shelli Milner, the sister to Donnie Swindle (one of the four Postelle murder victims), said that “Today didn’t put closure on anything.” His family grieves the same way that our families grieve for 17 years. Knowing that he will not be walking this earth again gives me some peace.
Postelle denied his involvement in the 2005 Memorial Day shooting deaths of Amy Wright, Terry Smith, Swindle, and James Alderson during a Clemency Hearing in December. Robert Nance, Postelle’s lawyer, said that Postelle had a learning disability and was abandoning his mother when he was young. He also claimed that his client had been using methamphetamine almost daily since he was 12.
Nance stated to the Pardon and Parole Board that he is a “different man” than he used to be. He needs to be forgiven because he was raised in a negative environment.
Postelle, himself, also testified via video link from prison at the hearing that he used meth for several days prior to the murders and had little information about the crimes.
He said, “I understand that I am guilty and that I accept it.” “I can only say that I truly regret what I did to these families and there’s nothing else I can do.”
Prosecutors claim that Postelle, his brother David Postelle and father Brad Postelle were behind the “blitz attack” that resulted from their belief that Swindle was responsible in an accident that caused Brad Postelle serious injury. Prosecutors denied that Swindle was involved.
After evidence proved that he chased Wright and Alderson, Gilbert Postelle was sentenced to death for their murders.
Assistant Attorney General Julie Pittman stated to the board that Amy Wright, in her final moments was screaming and clawing at the ground to escape Gilbert Postelle.
Mary Joe Swindle (a victim’s mother) also gave powerful testimony to the board. She claimed that she was unable to view her son’s corpse because it was so contaminated with bullets. Postelle was denied clemency by the panel, which voted 4-1.
Oklahoma used to have one of the busiest death chambers. However, executions were stopped in 2015. This was due to a botched Lethal Injection in 2014 as well as drug mixing-ups which led one inmate to be executed with the wrong drug. Another inmate was only moments from being taken to the death chamber. Prison officials discovered that the wrong drug had been used for his execution.
Oklahoma’s former Attorney General Mike Hunter stated that the state had secured drugs and fine-tuned lethal injection protocols. In 2020, was ready to resume executions using three-drug combination. This includes the paralytic vecuronium bromide and the sedative midazoloam. It also contains potassium chloride which stops the heart.
