Oklahoma Executes Man in 2005 Quadruple Slaying

Gilbert Ray Postelle expressed remorse, says he was high on meth
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 17, 2022 11:38 AM CST
Oklahoma Executes Killer in Quadruple Homicide
This photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Gilbert Ray Postelle.   (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File)

Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for his role in a quadruple slaying in 2005. Gilbert Ray Postelle, 35, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was declared dead by prison officials at 10:14am, per the AP. It was Oklahoma's fourth execution since October, when the state resumed lethal injections following a nearly seven-year hiatus. During a clemency hearing in December, Postelle did not deny his involvement in the Memorial Day 2005 shooting deaths of James Alderson, Terry Smith, Donnie Swindle, and Amy Wright.

But Postelle's attorney, Robert Nance, argued that his client suffered from a learning disability and the abandonment of his mother at a young age, and had begun abusing methamphetamine on a nearly daily basis beginning at age 12. Postelle himself also testified via video link from the prison that he had been using meth for days before the killings and remembered little about the crimes. "I do understand that I'm guilty and I accept that," he said. "There's nothing more that I know to say to you all than I am truly sorry for what I've done to all these families.

Prosecutors say Postelle, brother David Postelle, father Brad Postelle, and another man carried out the killings, motivated by their belief that Swindle was responsible for a motorcycle accident that left Brad Postelle seriously injured. But prosecutors said there was no evidence that Swindle was involved in the crash. Gilbert Postelle received two death sentences for the killings of Wright and Alderson after evidence showed he pursued the two as they were trying to flee and shot them from behind with a rifle.

(More Oklahoma stories.)

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