A death row inmate was executed by lethal injection last night for the 1996 murder of a 21-year-old.
Anthony Sanchez, 44, was sentenced to death for the brutal murder of University of Oklahoma student Juli Busken who was abducted, sexually assaulted, and shot in the head.
The horrendous crime went unsolved for years until DNA from the victim’s clothing and the crime scene was found to be a match for Sanchez, who was in jail for burglary at the time, and he was given the death penalty in 2006.
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Sanchez had always protested his innocence.
Speaking to the Associated Press earlier this year, he said: “That is fabricated DNA.
“That is false DNA. That is not my DNA. I’ve been saying that since day one.”
In an interview with KFOR days before his death he one again claimed to be innocent, telling the outlet: “If this is what makes the Buskens happy and able to move on, I'm happy for them. But I'm innocent. I didn't kill their daughter.”
None of Busken’s family attended the execution but state Attorney General Gentner Drummond said it had offered them ‘closure’.
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He said: “Juli was murdered 26 years, nine months and one day ago. The family has found closure and peace.”
According to the Daily Mail, Sanchez had a multi-course final meal of fried chicken steak, fried okra, mashed potatoes, apple pie and ice cream, followed by a hot roll and sweet iced tea.
When asked if he had any final words, Sanchez chose to once again claim his innocence, saying: “I'm innocent. I didn't kill nobody.”
Despite his claims, in a letter written last month, Drummond said that a sample of Sanchez’s DNA was
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‘identical to the profiles developed from sperm on Busken's panties and leotard’.
He went to say there was no indication either profile was mixed with DNA from anyone else.
He said: “There is no conceivable doubt that Anthony Sanchez is a brutal rapist and murderer who is deserving of the state's harshest punishment.”
Former Cleveland County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall, who was the county's top prosecutor when Sanchez was tried, said that alongside the DNA there was other evidence that linked him to the scene, including ballistics and a shoe print.
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He said: “I know from spending a lot of time on that case, there is not one piece of evidence that pointed to anyone other than Anthony Sanchez.
“I don't care if a hundred people or a thousand people confess to killing Juli Busken.”
Claire Reid