OKLAHOMA, USA. 74-YEAR-OLD MAN EXECUTED FOR 1984 MURDER

June 1, 2006: 74-year-old John Albert Boltz became the oldest person executed in Oklahoma when he was put to death by lethal injection for the 1984 murder of his stepson. Boltz was the second person executed in Oklahoma this year, said Jerry Massie, spokesman for the state prison in McAlester.
Previously, the oldest person executed in Oklahoma was Robert Hendricks, who was 64 when he was put to death in 1957, Massie said.
Boltz was condemned for stabbing his 22-year-old stepson Douglas Kirby to death on April 18, 1984, in a Shawnee, Oklahoma, mobile home park.
Police said he stabbed Kirby at least eight times and nearly decapitated him in a clash precipitated by a marital dispute between Boltz and his wife Pat Kirby, who was the victim's mother.
Massie said Boltz, in his final statement, described his execution as "a time of gladness for me and a time of sadness."
"It's a time of gladness because now I'm going to a better place. It's a time of sadness because of all the people involved who got me here and what's in store for them," said Boltz, who had said he killed Kirby in self-defense.
"I've seen so many troubles and pain for all these years and now it's come to this."
Oklahoma has executed 81 people since the death penalty was reintroduced in the US in 1976. There are currently 91 people on death row in the state, including one woman.
Boltz was the 21^st person put to death in the US so far in 2006. (Sources: Reuters, 01/06/2006)