OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 23, 2024) - Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is requesting the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board deny clemency for Michael Dewayne Smith, who was convicted of murdering a 40-year-old mother and a 24-year-old store clerk in separate incidents on Feb. 22, 2002. Smith’s clemency hearing is set for March 6.
“Michael Smith’s outrageous claims of innocence have been repeatedly rejected in court,” Drummond said. “He is a ruthless killer who has confessed to his crimes on multiple occasions. There is no doubt in my mind that his request for clemency should be denied.”
In the clemency packet produced by the Attorney General’s office, the agency’s criminal appeals attorneys note that Smith killed Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru in a double-murder spree simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Smith, also known by the moniker “Hoover Killer,” was a member of the Oak Grove Posse Kerr Village Crips gang and was seeking revenge for the death of a fellow gang member.
At the time of the murders, Smith was a fugitive on the run for a separate killing, an act that places him among just 10 percent of death row inmates who have murdered multiple victims.
Drummond said Smith’s confession was corroborated by evidence at both murder scenes. He added that Smith’s claims of intellectual disability are statutorily ineligible due to his IQ scores.
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