“MAYBE I HAVE SERVED ENOUGH TIME ON THE FIRST LIFE SENTENCE”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE OKLAHOMA PARDON AND PAROLE BOARD HAS RECOMMENDED PAROLE FOR 73-YEAR-OLD VERNA STAFFORD… BUT EVEN IF GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT APPROVES IT, SHE STILL CANNOT LEAVE PRISON.
More than four decades after some of Oklahoma’s most notorious murders took place, 73-year-old Verna Stafford has received a favorable parole recommendation.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3 to 2 in favor of recommending her parole.
That recommendation applies strictly to the first of the two life sentences she is serving.
But the board’s vote does not mean Stafford is about to walk out of prison.
The recommendation now goes directly to Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Gov. Kevin Stitt possesses the authority to approve or reject the parole board’s recommendation.
Yet regardless of his decision, Stafford’s incarceration does not immediately end.
Even if the governor approves the parole recommendation, Stafford still has another life sentence to serve.
Updated case information indicates she will not become eligible for parole consideration on that second sentence for approximately another 15 years.
In 1980, Stafford pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.
Those guilty pleas stemmed from her involvement in a series of killings that horrified Oklahoma in 1978.
Altogether, the cases left nine people dead.
One of the incidents was the infamous Sirloin Stockade massacre in Oklahoma City.
Six restaurant employees were murdered during that crime.
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Stafford was also connected to the murders of the Lorenz family, which occurred only weeks earlier.
Melvin Lorenz was murdered in that attack.
His wife, Linda Lorenz, was also murdered.
Their son was murdered as well.
Authorities ultimately connected the crimes to Verna Stafford.
Investigators also connected the murders to her husband, Roger Dale Stafford.
And authorities connected the killings to her brother-in-law, Harold Stafford.
Before the parole board held its latest vote, relatives of the victims addressed board members.
The family members expressed their positions regarding Stafford’s potential parole.
The district attorney also spoke before the board members.
Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton has publicly opposed Stafford’s release.
The parole board nevertheless voted 3 to 2 in favor of recommending parole on her first life sentence.
The recommendation now sits with Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Regardless of his decision, Stafford will remain behind bars.
She still has the second life sentence to serve.
She still faces approximately 15 years before she becomes eligible for parole consideration on that sentence.
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