Investigators said Anderson fatally stabbed a woman and cut out her heart, took it to his uncle and aunt’s home, cooked it and served it to them.
An Oklahoma man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to killing three people, including a woman whose heart was cut out of her body, weeks after he was released from prison as part of a massive restitution effort.
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Lawrence Paul Anderson, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Grady County Circuit Court to three counts of murder and one count of maiming, assault and battery.
Anderson was sentenced to life in prison without parole as part of a plea deal in which prosecutor Jason Hicks abandoned plans to seek the death penalty at the request of the victims’ families.
“They don’t want a trial,” Hicks said at a news conference after the sentencing. “They don’t want to sit in a courtroom and listen to all the gory details of what happened to their loved ones.”
Investigators said Anderson broke into the home of Andrea Lynn Blankenship, 41, fatally stabbed her and cut out her heart, taking it to the home of his uncle and aunt, Leon Pye and Delsey Pye.
Anderson then cooked and tried to serve the Pye family heart, then fatally stabbed Leon Pye, 67, and his 4-year-old granddaughter, Kaeos Yates, and wounded his aunt, Delsey Pye, authorities said.
During the sentencing, Delsey Pye, 66, said she was heartbroken that a family member would commit such a crime.
Tasha Yates, Kaeos Yates’ mother, cursed at Anderson before fleeing the courtroom. “Who kills a baby…who does?” Yeats shouted.
Anderson was released from prison less than a month before the February 2021 bombings after his 20-year prison sentence for drug offenses was commuted by Gov. Kevin Stitt following the recommendation of the state Pardons and Parole Board.
A grand jury investigation later found that Anderson was improperly placed on the replacement list in August 2019 after the board in July 2019 denied his replacement request, which, according to board rules, required him to wait three years , before applying again.
The board later recommended a change that was approved by Stitt after the second request.
Delsey Pye and the victims’ families sued Stitt, the Board of Pardons and Paroles and others for federal civil rights violations related to Anderson’s release.
The case is pending, with all defendants filing motions to dismiss the suit.