Oklahoma City jury recommends death for man in fatal stabbing

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A jury decided Monday that a man who was convicted in the stabbing death of a Montana resident should pay for the crime with his life. <br><br>The panel deliberated about five

Tuesday, April 6th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A jury decided Monday that a man who was convicted in the stabbing death of a Montana resident should pay for the crime with his life.

The panel deliberated about five hours before recommending the death penalty for Termane Wood, 24.

The Oklahoma County jury convicted Wood late Friday of first-degree murder in the Jan. 1, 2002, death of Ronald Reuben Wipf, 19, in a motel room.

Wood and his older brother, Zjaiton Wood, 26, robbed Wipf and a second Montana man, Arnold Jonathan Kleinsasser, 22, before the stabbing, prosecutors said.

The jury also convicted Termane Wood on charges of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit a felony and recommended life in prison on those counts.

``We appreciate the hard work the jury did,'' Assistant District Attorney George Burnett said. ``He deserves the punishment he's going to receive.''

During closing arguments Monday, Assistant District Attorney Fern Smith said Wipf did not die easily. Smith said he took the knife out of his chest and walked around the motel room, stepping in his own blood.

``That knife was five inches into his chest,'' Smith said. ``He suffered and he suffered greatly.''

Wipf was from the Riverview Hutterite Colony near Chester, and Kleinsasser was from the Rockport Hutterite Colony near Pendroy. They were in Oklahoma working with a harvesting crew and stopped in Oklahoma City to celebrate New Year's Eve 2001 with other members of the group.

They met Lanita Sue Bateman and Brandy Lynn Warden at a downtown restaurant, prosecutors said.

The women offered to have sex with the pair for $210, but prosecutors allege the women, who were girlfriends of Termane and Zjaiton Wood, were setting the men up to be robbed.

Bateman was sentenced to life in prison plus 101 years for her role in the crime. Warden pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and testified against Bateman in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence.

Termane Wood's mother, Linda Wood, cried as she asked the jury not to choose the death sentence for her son, who has two children, ages 3 and 5.

``Please spare my son's life,'' she said. ``I don't want him to die.''

A judge will formally sentence Termane Wood on May 3, Burnett said.

Zjaiton Wood is scheduled to go on trial next week.