An American man sentenced to death for the 1984 rape and murder of his seven-year-old stepdaughter was executed Thursday morning in Oklahoma, the southern state’s prison administration said. Richard Norman Rojem Jr., 66, who had been in prison for about 40 years, was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m. local time (3:16 p.m. GMT) following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in the city of McAlester, according to a statement. This is the second execution since the beginning of the year in Oklahoma and the ninth in the United States, in addition to the one canceled at the last minute on February 28 in Idaho (northwest).
Layla Cummings, the daughter of Richard Norman Rojem Jr.’s ex-girlfriend, was abducted from her Elk City home on the night of July 6-7, 1984, before her lifeless body was found in a field the next day, riddled with stab wounds near the neck and around the genitals. A fingerprint found on a beer can at the victim’s home, as well as a condom wrapper found near the girl’s body, were evidence against Richard Norman Rojem Jr. He has always maintained his innocence, pointing the finger “a case built entirely on circumstantial evidence”. According to the local press, two first death sentences were overturned for procedural errors, before a final conviction in 2007.
Oklahoma resumed executions in 2021 after a six-year moratorium due to botched executions in 2014 and 2015. A total of 24 executions were carried out in the United States in 2023, all by lethal injection. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states. Six others (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee) have a moratorium on executions by governor.
