McALESTER, Okla. — A man who strangled a 64-year-old grandmother after breaking into her home in 1988 was put to death by injection Tuesday night.
Jerald Wayne Harjo, 40, broke into Ruth Porter's house to try to find the keys to her van and killed her in her bed, authorities said. Investigators believe he also raped her.
Porter's daughter found the body of the elementary school secretary the next morning. A pillow had been forced onto her face, crushing her windpipe.