Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday rejected clemency for a man facing execution this week for the 1997 hammer killing of a Choctaw man, despite a recommendation from the state's Pardon and Parole Board that his life be spared.
James Coddington was convicted and sentenced to die for the beating death of friend and coworker 73-year-old Albert Hale inside Hale’s Choctaw home. Prosecutors say Coddington, who was 24 at the time, became enraged when Hale refused to give him money to buy cocaine.
