Okla. Man Executed for 1988 Death

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) - A man who strangled a 64-year-old grandmother after breaking into her home in 1988 was put to death by injection Tuesday night.

Jerald Wayne Harjo, 40, broke into Ruth Porter's house to try to find the keys to her van and killed her in her bed, authorities said. Investigators believe he also raped her.

Porter's daughter found the body of the elementary school secretary the next morning. A pillow had been forced onto her face, crushing her windpipe.

Authorities said Harjo had been bicycling to his brother's house when it began to rain. He decided to ditch the bicycle and steal Porter's van.

At the time, Harjo was on a suspended sentence for stealing a car.

He confessed to the murder after investigators found his muddy tennis shoe prints on Porter's floor, former Seminole County Sheriff Charles Sisco said.

Harjo was the 14th person executed this year in Oklahoma and the 44th since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

 L'Oklahoma ex�cute son 14e condamn� � mort de l'ann�e

McALESTER, Oklahoma (AP) -- Un condamn� � mort de 40 ans, reconnu coupable du meurtre par strangulation d'une femme de 64 ans en 1988, a �t� ex�cut� mardi soir par injection l�tale.

Selon les autorit�s, Jerald Wayne Harjo avait avou� le meurtre de Ruth Poter apr�s que les enqu�teurs eurent retrouv� les empreintes de ses chaussures de tennis dans la maison de sa victime.

 Celle-ci dormait quand son agresseur avait p�n�tr� chez elle pour tenter de lui voler les cl�s de son v�hicule avant de l'�trangler dans son lit.

La fille de Ruth Porter avait d�couvert le corps de sa m�re le lendemain matin du meurtre, la victime ayant �t� �touff� avec un oreiller. D'apr�s les enqu�teurs, Ruth Porter aurait �galement �t� viol�e.

Harjo avait eu l'id�e de voler le v�hicule de Ruth Porter tandis qu'il se rendait � bicyclette chez son fr�re, sous la pluie.