Oklahoma on Thursday executed its longest-serving death row inmate — a fiend who kidnapped, raped and murdered his 7-year-old former stepdaughter in 1984.
Richard Rojem, 66, was declared dead at 10:16 a.m. by three lethal drug injections at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
Rojem had maintained that he was innocent of the murder of his former stepdaughter, Layla Cummings, whose body was found mutilated and partially clothed on July 7, 1984.
When asked if he had any final words, Rojem responded, “I don’t. I’ve said my goodbyes.”
Rojem looked briefly toward several witnesses in the room next to the death chamber, including Layla’s mother Mindy Cummings, before the drugs knocked him out, with the convict’s breathing stopped 5 minutes later.
State Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the execution puts an end to the 40-year-old nightmare that Layla’s family has had to suffer through since the child’s death.
“We remember, honor and hold her forever in our hearts as the sweet and precious 7-year-old she was,” Mindy Cummings said in a statement.
“Today marks the final chapter of justice determined by three separate juries for Richard Rojem’s heinous acts nearly 40 years ago when he stole her away like the monster he was.”
Rojem, who had previously been convicted of raping two teenage girls in Michigan, had allegedly grown angry at Layla for reporting him for sexually abusing her, prosecutors said.
Layla’s accusations caused her mother to divorce Rojem and led to his return to prison for violating the conditions of his parole.
The girl was then kidnapped from her home, and her body was later discovered with stab wounds in a field in rural Washita County. A jury convicted Rojem of her death in 1985 after only 45 minutes of deliberation.
Rojem spent the rest of his life in prison fighting back against the sentence, with his lawyers arguing at a clemency hearing earlier this month that DNA evidence taken from Layla’s fingernails did not link him to the crime.
“I did not kidnap Layla, I did not rape Layla, and I did not murder her,” he told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
But prosecutors said that there was enough evidence to convict Rojem, including a condom wrapper found near the girl’s body that was also linked to a used condom discovered in Rojem’s bedroom.
Investigators also connected fingerprints found in Layla’s room to a cup from a bar that Rojem had left behind just before the girl was kidnapped.
The Oklahoma board ended up unanimously voting not to recommend that the governor spare his life.
With Post wires