An American sentenced to death for killing a couple in their 70s was executed Thursday in the presence of a priest whom Oklahoma prison officials initially wanted to keep out. Scott Eizember, 62, received a lethal injection at McAlester Penitentiary in the central United States. He is the third convict to be executed in the country since the beginning of the year.
Nearly 20 years after “his horrendous crimes (…) have been served justice,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who witnessed the execution, commented in a press release. Scott Eizember was sentenced to death for the 2003 murder of an elderly couple. According to Drummond, he had “held her captive in her home for hours” before shooting the woman and then smashing the man’s skull in with his pistol.
Last September he received a visit from a priest who opposed the death penalty, Jeffrey Hood, a member of the Old Catholic Church (which broke with Rome). The two men had bonded and Scott Eizember had desired that priest to accompany him in his transition from life to death.
The “militancy” of the priest
On January 4, prison officials refused to make a scene during the execution, citing the “militancy” of the priest, whom they believed was likely. The two men then took legal action, accusing these officials of “religious hostility.” “In fact, they deny a prisoner the spiritual counsel of his choice at the most critical moment of his life: his death,” their lawyers wrote.
Eventually, to put an end to this process, the Oklahoma prison authorities accepted Hood’s presence and said they should act on behalf of the victims’ families. “The victims’ families are ready to take the page down and understand that this complaint (…) threatens to delay the execution,” director Steven Harpe said in a press release. According to reporters authorized to witness the execution, the guard kept an eye on Hood throughout Thursday’s trial, and no incidents were reported.