Oklahoma's parole board recommends CLEMENCY for death row killer convicted of murdering two men who

Oklahoma's parole board has recommended clemency for a death row killer set to be executed this month for what he claims were two self-defense killings in 2001.

The board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Phillip Dean Hancock, 59, who was convicted of murdering Robert Jett Jr., 37, and James Lynch, 58, in Oklahoma City. 

He has long maintained that he killed the two men in self-defense after they attacked him. 

The final decision of whether to spare Hancock rests with Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who must now decide ahead of the scheduled date for his lethal injection on November 30.

Gov Stitt has granted clemency on only one occasion, in 2021, to death row inmate Julius Jones, commuting his sentence to life without parole just hours before Jones was scheduled to receive a lethal injection. 

Phillip Hancock was set to be executed later this month for what he claims were the self-defense killings of two men in Oklahoma City

He denied clemency recommendations from the board in two other cases: Bigler Stouffer and James Coddington, both of whom were later executed.

The parole board's vote came after it heard from Hancock, his attorneys, lawyers from the state and members of Jett and Lynch's families. 

Two Republican state legislators, Reps. Kevin McDugle and Justin Humphrey, also spoke on Hancock's behalf, despite usually supporting the death penalty. 

'If any one of us were in that same exact situation... we would have fought for our lives,' said McDugle, R-Broken Arrow.

Hancock's attorneys claim that Jett and Lynch were members of outlaw motorcycle gangs.

They say the pair lured Hancock, who was unarmed, to Jett's home and that Jett ordered him to get inside a large cage before swinging a metal bar at him. 

Then, they say Jett and Lynch attacked him before Hancock managed to take Jett's pistol from him and shoot them both.

Hancock's attorneys also argued that his trial attorney did not properly represent Hancock and has since admitted he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction at the time of the trial.

But attorneys for the state argued Hancock gave shifting accounts of what exactly happened and that his testimony didn't align with the physical evidence at the scene. 

Assistant Attorney General Joshua Lockett said the jury took all of this into account before rendering its verdict, which has been upheld by numerous state and federal appeals courts.

'Hancock's credibility was absolutely eviscerated at trial because his claims conflicted with the evidence,' Lockett said.

Lockett also said after Hancock shot Jett inside the house, a witness who was at the scene testified Hancock followed Jett into the backyard.

Robert Jett Jr. (pictured), 37, is one of the men Hancock claims to have killed in self-defense

James Lynch, 58 (pictured). Hancock's attorneys said Jett and Lynch attacked him before Hancock managed to take Jett's pistol from him and shoot them both

They heard a wounded Jett say: 'I'm going to die', and Hancock responded, 'Yes, you are,' before shooting him again, according to Lockett.

He added: 'Chasing someone down, telling them you are about to kill them and then doing it is not self-defense.'

Jett's brother, Ryan Jett, was among several family members who testified and urged the panel not to recommend clemency.

'I don't claim that my brother was an angel by any means, but he didn't deserve to die in the backyard like a dog,' Ryan Jett said.

Hancock was also convicted of first-degree manslaughter in a separate shooting in 1982 in which he also claimed self defense. 

He served less than three years of a four-year sentence in that case.

Hancock, who testified on Wednesday via a video link from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, said he arrived at the home 'unarmed and unsuspecting' and that he was terrified when an armed Jett ordered him into a cage.

'Please understand the awful situation I found myself in,' Hancock said. 'I have no doubt they would have killed me. They forced me to fight for my life.'

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