Gov. Grants Death Row Inmate Brief Stay of Execution

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY  -- At the request of Gov. Brad Henry, an Oklahoma death row inmate has been granted a brief stay of execution so authorities can review evidence in his case.

Jeffrey David Matthews was scheduled to be executed Thursday for a 1994 murder conviction, but late Monday defense attorneys requested a delay to examine fingerprint evidence related to the case.

Gov. Henry agreed to grant a brief stay and the execution has been rescheduled for July 20.

At the governor's request, Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins signed the paperwork granting the stay of execution. Gov. Henry is currently out of state on vacation.

Thirty-eight-year-old Jeffrey David Matthews of Purcell was scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Matthews was convicted of the Jan. 27, 1994, murder of Otis Earl Short during a robbery of Short's home in McClain County.

Matthews, the victim's great-nephew, also was convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary and assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

His execution was going to be the second in the state this year. Sixty-year-old Julius Ricardo Young was executed in January after being convicted of murdering his former girlfriend's daughter and grandchild.