Prosecutors drop request for death penalty

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Tulsa County prosecutors will no longer seek the death penalty for a man convicted in the fatal shootings of an Owasso trucking company owner and a retired Tulsa banker in 1999.

The Tulsa World reports (http://bit.ly/1OG1F9u ) that First Assistant District Attorney John David Luton announced the decision Tuesday in court. He says he made the conclusion after talking with the victims’ family members.

The 52-year-old Victor Cornell Miller has been fighting a legal battle against the state since a jury convicted him in 2002 for the shooting deaths of 44-year-old truck company owner Jerald Thurman and 77-year-old retired banker Mary Agnes Bowles.

Court minutes show that District Judge Dana Kuehn is scheduled to sentence Miller on Dec. 18.