Oklahoma Serial Rapist and Murderer Awaits Execution
A convicted serial rapist and murderer in Oklahoma is set for execution, having inflicted deep pain on multiple families. William Lewis Reese, 63, was previously serving a life sentence in Texas for the murders of a young girl, a teenage girl, and a 20-year-old woman, according to a report from Fox 25.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office disclosed in a press release that Reese has been transferred back to Oklahoma to face his death sentence at the state prison in McAlester.
In 2021, an Oklahoma County jury found Reese guilty and sentenced him to death for the 1997 murder of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnston. Reese had abducted Johnston from a car wash in Bethany, sexually assaulted her, and then disposed of her body in a remote area of western Yukon.
The investigation was stalled for nearly 20 years until 2016, when Reese, during an interview with a Texas Ranger regarding his crimes against young women in both Oklahoma and Texas, confessed to killing Johnston. DNA evidence collected from Johnston’s body supported his confession.
After his Oklahoma conviction, Reese returned to Texas in 2022, where he pleaded guilty to the murders of 12-year-old Laura Smither, 17-year-old Jessica Cain, and 20-year-old Kelly Cox, receiving life sentences for these additional crimes.
Reese had previously spent 10 years in prison for raping two women in 1986 before being released. In April 1997, he kidnapped Smither while she was jogging and later murdered her; her body was subsequently discovered in a reservoir. He also attempted to abduct Sandra Sapo from a convenience store, but she escaped by jumping from his truck.
Months later, Reese committed further acts of violence, kidnapping and murdering Cox at a gas station and later abducting and killing Johnston from the car wash in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office indicated that Reese has exhausted legal appeals regarding his death sentence. They plan to contest any further appeals and will seek an execution date. Attorney General Gentner Drummond expressed gratitude toward the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for their efforts to ensure that Reese faces the consequences deemed appropriate by the jury.
“This predator left a trail of devastated families spanning two states,” Drummond remarked. “Tiffany Johnston was a young bride with her entire life ahead of her when it was violently cut short.”
