Pro Tem Paxton Sends Protest Letter to Pardon and Parole Board Opposing Parole for Sirloin Stockade Mass Murderer

OKLAHOMA CITY – Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton has sent a letter to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voicing his strongest opposition to any recommendation of parole for Verna Stafford, who was convicted for her role in the infamous Sirloin Stockade mass murder in 1978.

In June, the board voted to advance Stafford’s parole request to the second stage of the process. The Pardon and Parole Board will consider her petition when the board meets next week.

“It was important to me to remind the members of the Pardon and Parole Board what this individual was involved in,” Pro Tem Paxton said. “Stafford was convicted for her role in one of the most horrific mass murders in Oklahoma history, leaving our state in shock and fear. Nine innocent people lost their lives, and their families have lived with that loss for nearly five decades. There are no conditions, circumstances or arguments that can justify recommending her release. The Pardon and Parole Board should remember the victims, remember their families and vote accordingly.”

In his letter, Pro Tem Paxton emphasizes that the passage of time does not erase the consequences of Stafford’s crimes. He asks the board to consider the families who have spent nearly five decades without their loved ones and whether justice demands that someone responsible for crimes of this magnitude ever be recommended for release.

“The victims were innocent people who went to work one day and never returned home,” Pro Tem Paxton wrote. “Because of her actions, families were robbed of parents, children, spouses and loved ones. They have missed birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, holidays and countless moments that can never be restored.”

Cosigning the letter is Senator Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee and a reserve deputy sheriff in Haskell County.

“The Pardon and Parole Board should unequivocally deny this request,” Senator Hamilton said. “Someone who committed a crime of this horrific nature should be held accountable for the remainder of their lives. It would be an injustice to the families of these victims to see one of the perpetrators of this heinous crime walk free. I appreciate Pro Tem Paxton standing up for these victims and their families. Since I have known Pro Tem Paxton, he has been a staunch supporter of law and order, and I greatly appreciate his stance on not only this case but everything else we have been able to partner on during our time in the Senate together to keep criminals behind bars. I ask the members of the board to remember the lives that were taken, remember the families who continue to grieve and do the right thing by keeping her in prison where she belongs.”

Pro Tem Paxton’s letter names each of the nine victims and the ages at which they were murdered, reminding the board that they were more than names in a case file.

The letter concludes with a plea to the board not to force the victims’ families to relive their unimaginable loss once again.

“Do not compound their grief by suggesting these crimes have been sufficiently answered by the passage of time,” Pro Tem Paxton wrote. “Justice requires more than remembering the victims. It requires standing with them. I urge you to vote no.”

To read the letter, click here.