By AP
Oklahoma City, OK – Board denies clemency for convicted Okla. killer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has denied clemency for a man sentenced to die for the 1994 stabbing death of a man in Miami, Okla.
The board voted 3-2 on Monday not to recommend clemency for 49-year-old Gary Roland Welch, who spoke to the board via video conferencing from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Welch maintained he killed 35-year-old Robert Hardcastle in self-defense and refused to apologize for his killing.
Welch said he had no choice but to fight "for his own survival."
Prosecutors allege Welch and a co-defendant attacked and killed Hardcastle during a drug-related skirmish, although the original prosecutor acknowledged he had few details about the motive.
Several members of Hardcastle's family attended the hearing and urged the panel to reject clemency.