Oklahoma Representative Robert Manger is calling on Gov. Kevin Stitt to reject a parole recommendation for Verna Stafford, who was convicted for her role in nine murders in 1978, including the Sirloin Stockade massacre in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended Stafford for parole. The recommendation now goes to the governor for final consideration.
“Parole, even one step closer, is not owed to Verna Stafford. Justice is owed to her victims,” Manger said. “The board’s decision moves a convicted murderer one dangerous step closer to freedom. It disregards the brutality of these crimes, the lives that were stolen and the pain the victims’ families have carried.”
Stafford and her husband, Roger Dale Stafford, were convicted of murdering a family of three along Interstate 35 near Purcell and later robbing an Oklahoma City Sirloin Stockade restaurant, where six employees were killed. Roger Dale Stafford was executed in 1995.
Verna Stafford was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
Manger, who spent 33 years in law enforcement, said he began his career the same year as the murders and remembered seeing the suspects brought to jail.
“I am calling on the Governor to reject this recommendation,” Manger said. “Verna Stafford should never get one step closer to seeing the light of day as a free person.”
If the governor approves the recommendation, Stafford would be paroled from her first life sentence and begin serving her second consecutive life sentence. She could become eligible for parole again in 15 years.
