Oklahoma man pleads guilty to killing three and cutting out the heart of one

CHICKASHA, Oklahoma (AP) — An Oklahoma man has been sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to killing three people, including a woman who had her heart cut out, weeks after being released from prison as part of a massive crackdown on mitigation of punishment. .

Lawrence Paul Anderson, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Grady County District Court to three counts of murder and one count of mutilation, assault and battery.

Anderson was sentenced to life in prison without parole as part of a plea bargain in which prosecutor Jason Hicks abandoned plans to seek the death penalty at the request of the victims’ families.

“They don’t want a trial,” Hicks said at a press conference following the verdict. “They don’t want to sit in the courtroom and listen to all the bloody details of what happened to their loved ones.”

Investigators said Anderson broke into the home of Andrea Lynn Blankenship, 41, fatally stabbed her and cut out her heart, taking it to the home of his aunts and uncles, Leon Pye and Delsie Pye.

Anderson then cooked and attempted to heartfeed Pye, then fatally shot 67-year-old Leon Pye and his 4-year-old granddaughter Kaeos Yates, and wounded his aunt Delsie Pye, authorities said.

During sentencing, Delsie Pye, 66, said she was heartbroken that a family member had committed such a crime.

Tasha Yates, Kaeos Yates’ mother, cursed Anderson before running out of the courtroom.

“Who is killing the child… who is doing this?” Yeats shouted.

Anderson was released from prison less than a month before the February 2021 attacks after Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted his 20-year prison sentence for drug offenses on the recommendation of the State Board of Pardons and Parole.

A grand jury investigation later found that Anderson was erroneously listed as a substitute in August 2019 after the board in July 2019 denied his request for a replacement, which, according to board rules, requires him to wait three years before filing re-application.

The board later recommended a replacement, which Stitt approved after a second request.

Delsie Pye and the families of the victims sued Stitt, the Board of Pardons and Parole, and other organizations for federal civil rights violations related to Anderson’s release.

The litigation is pending, and all defendants have filed motions to dismiss the case.

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