Convicted murderer transfer to Oklahoma to face death sentence

A man sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of a Tulsa woman has been returned to Oklahoma custody, where officials plan to move forward with his execution.

George John Hanson, also known as John Fitzgerald Hanson, was transferred from a federal prison in Louisiana to Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester Saturday, according to the state Department of Corrections. The transfer was requested by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

Hanson was convicted of kidnapping and killing 77-year-old Mary Bowles after carjacking her from a Tulsa shopping mall. Prosecutors said he and an accomplice took Bowles to an isolated dirt pit near Owasso, where she was shot and killed. The accomplice then fatally shot Jerald Max Thurman, who had witnessed the crime.

A Tulsa County jury sentenced Hanson to death, but he had been serving a separate life sentence in federal prison for bank robbery.

Drummond said he was grateful for the transfer, which he said had been previously blocked by the Biden administration. He thanked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Bureau of Prisons for approving the request.

“For the family and friends of Mary Bowles, the wait for justice has been a long and frustrating one," Drummond said in a statement. "I am grateful President Trump and Attorney General Bondi recognized the importance of this murderer being back in Oklahoma so justice can be served."

Drummond formally requested Hanson’s transfer on Jan. 23, the same week that Trump issued an executive order emphasizing the enforcement of capital punishment.

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office is expected to ask the state Court of Criminal Appeals to set an execution date later this year.