Death-row inmate Termane Wood, 45, who was convicted for the fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old during a botched robbery in 2002, was found unconscious in his cell after being reprieved
A death-row inmate who had his life spared just moments before he was due to be executed has been rushed for medical treatment after guards later found him unresponsive in his cell.
Tremane Wood, 46, had only hours earlier learned that Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt had stepped in at the 11th hour to commute his death sentence to life without parole. But the reprieve was followed by panic inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary when officers discovered the inmate had collapsed in his cell during a routine check, officials confirmed.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Kay Thompson said Wood had met with his legal team after the commutation and appeared stable, but was later struck by a medical emergency blamed on dehydration and stress. Prison officials said he was “stable and alert” by Thursday evening.
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In a recorded interview released after he was taken to the hospital, Wood said he had been alone in his cell when he suddenly lost consciousness.
“I didn’t have all my senses,” he said. “I woke up in the infirmary with my head busted and my lip busted, and that’s pretty much it right there.”
He insisted he hadn’t harmed himself and noted he hadn’t eaten since the previous day, MailOnline reports. The recording ends with Wood sending a message to the governor: “Tell Governor Stitt I said ‘thank you.’”
Wood had been waiting in a holding cell right beside the death chamber on Thursday morning when he learned the governor had spared him. The decision came after the victim’s family, who were raised in a Hutterite community in Montana, backed clemency.
Wood was convicted of fatally stabbing 19-year-old Ronnie Wipf during a botched 2002 robbery. But he has always maintained that the real killer was his brother, who later died while serving a life sentence. It is only the second time in nearly seven years that the Republican governor has granted clemency.
Governor Stitt explained: “This action reflects the same punishment his brother received for their murder of an innocent young man and ensures a severe punishment that keeps a violent offender off the streets forever.”
His order also makes clear that Wood will never be eligible for commutation, parole or a pardon, which is a condition similar to the one placed on Julius Jones when he received clemency in 2021.
State Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he was “disappointed that the governor has granted clemency for this dangerous murderer, but respect that this was his decision to make.”
Wood’s attorney, Amanda Bass Castro Alves, said her team was “profoundly grateful.” She added: “This decision honors the wishes of Mr. Wipf’s family and the surviving victim, and we hope it allows them a measure of peace.”
Several Republican lawmakers also pushed for clemency, and last week the state’s Pardon and Parole Board narrowly recommended mercy in a 3–2 vote.
But one of the original prosecutors, George Burnett, questioned whether a five-member board should wield such influence over a case litigated for more than two decades. He insisted evidence showed Wood was the one who fatally stabbed Wipf. Wood’s lawyers countered with claims that his trial attorney was drinking heavily and did little work, and that prosecutors improperly hid benefits given to witnesses. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt the execution on those grounds.
Prosecutors painted Wood as a violent gang member who continued criminal activity behind bars, including drug deals, contraband phones and ordering assaults. Speaking to the board via video from prison, Wood admitted misconduct behind bars and acknowledged his role in the robbery, but again denied killing Wipf. He commented: “I’m not a monster. I’m not a killer. I never was and I never have been.”
Wood’s medical scare came on the same day another brutal execution unfolded in South Carolina, where mass killer Stephen Bryant, 44, was put to death by firing squad.
Bryant, who murdered three people during a horrific eight-day rampage in 2004, had made a last-minute plea to blame his actions on brain damage caused by his mother drinking and using drugs while pregnant. But the South Carolina Supreme Court said that even if he had Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, it wouldn’t change his sentence. He became the third person this year in the state to die by firing squad.
