Oklahoma Executes Man Convicted Of Multiple Murders

On Tuesday evening, Oklahoma executed a man convicted in the brutal stabbing death of a young woman in 1999. Laci Dawn Hill’s murder marked the start of a 10-day killing spree that took the lives of three innocent victims.

Steven Ray Thacker, was pronounced dead at 6:10 pm Central time after being administered a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Last month, the 42-year-old convicted murderer declined his right to request clemency from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.

Oklahoma executed the man for the 1999 kidnapping, rape, and stabbing death of 25-year-old Lacy Dawn Hill. Thacker abducted the young woman from her home on December 23, 1999, after responding to a classified advertisement Hill placed regarding a pool table she was selling.

Authorities discovered Hill’s body six days later in a Mayes County cabin. Steven Thacker was identified by police after being captured on surveillance video attempting to use a debit card stolen from Hill during her abduction.

Once he became aware that police suspected him in Hill’s death, Thacker fled to Missouri where he committed his second murder.

On January 1, 2000, Thacker broke into the Aldrich, Missouri residence of 24-year-old Forrest Reed Boyd, stabbing the young man to death when he returned home during the burglary.

After killing Boyd, Thacker stole his victim’s vehicle and headed to Tennessee. When the stolen car broke down on January 2, 2000 in Dyersburg, Thacker called a tow truck service. He then murdered the responding driver, 52-year-old Ray Patterson.

Thacker was subsequently arrested and found guilty of murdering his three victims. He was housed in a Tennessee prison pending transfer to Oklahoma for his execution.

Friends and family of Thacker’s victims witnessed from an adjacent room as Oklahoma authorities executed the man who brought immeasurable sorrow and loss into their lives. The convicted murderer addressed them as part of his final statement, spoken moments before his death.

“I would like to apologize sincerely to the families of Lacy Hill, Forrest Boyd and Ray Patterson,” Thacker explained to the witnesses. “I don’t deserve it, but as God has forgiven me, I hope you will forgive me for the pain I’ve caused.”

Thacker then reportedly expressed his gratitude to his own friends and family for their support, adding that he would find “an eternity in heaven.”

Do you agree with Oklahoma’s decision to execute a man convicted of such heinous crimes?