Death penalty upheld again
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday upheld for a second time the death sentences given to a triple murderer.
Shaun Michael Bosse, now 34, of Blanchard, was convicted of murdering a woman he had briefly dated and her two children in 2010 inside a mobile home near Dibble.
The U.S. Supreme Court in October ordered another review of his punishment because three of the victims’ relatives had been allowed to ask the jury for the death penalty.
The Supreme Court pointed out it had ruled in 1987 that such opinions are prohibited.
In its decision Thursday, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals found the error at the 2012 trial to be harmless. The judges specifically noted that 14 of Bosse’s family and friends had asked jurors to let him live.
One judge further noted that the U.S. Supreme Court itself caused some of the confusion about this issue in a 1991 ruling. “The judges of this court strive to correctly apply the law but it can be difficult when clear directive is not given from the highest court,” the judge wrote.
The victims’ bodies were found inside the mobile home after it had been set on fire. Katrina Griffin, 24, and Christian Griffin, 8, were fatally stabbed. Chasity Hammer, 6, died of smoke inhalation after she was locked in a closet.
Prosecutors said Bosse stole from the woman and killed her and her children to avoid arrest for the thefts. He was found to have pawned more than 100 of the stolen items while the trailer was still burning.