Bio

Ronald Clinton Lott was born on September 22, 1960. By the 1980s, Lott was living in Oklahoma City. He later became linked to a series of sexual assaults against elderly women. At the time he was identified through DNA evidence, he was already incarcerated for raping two other elderly women.

The murders of Anna Laura Fowler and Zelma Cutler remained unresolved for years after another man, Robert Lee Miller Jr., was convicted. Miller spent nearly 11 years in prison, including several years on death row, before DNA evidence excluded him and connected Lott to the crimes. Miller was released in 1998.

Lott was arrested on March 19, 1997, after DNA testing linked him to the Fowler and Cutler cases. Prosecutors later described him as a serial rapist who targeted elderly women in their homes.

Murder Story

The first murder happened on September 2, 1986, in Oklahoma City. Anna Laura Fowler, age 83, lived alone. Lott broke into her home through the back screen door and attacked her. She was raped, beaten, and bound with a knotted cloth. She had bruising on her wrists, hands, eyes, lips, and cheeks, along with fractured ribs. She died from asphyxiation. Her grandson found her body on her bed the next morning.

The second murder happened on January 11, 1987. Zelma Cutler, who lived across the street from Fowler, was also living alone. Her home’s electricity had been shut off at the breaker box, and the phone wire had been cut. She was found dead on her bed. Like Fowler, she had been raped, beaten, and asphyxiated. Evidence showed that she had multiple rib fractures and bruising.

Another man, Robert Lee Miller Jr., was originally charged and convicted for the Fowler and Cutler murders. He spent about 11 years in prison, including seven years on death row. During later appeals, DNA testing excluded Miller and implicated Ronald Lott. Miller was released in 1998.

At the time DNA linked him to the murders, Lott was already in prison for raping two other elderly women. Prosecutors later argued that the Fowler and Cutler murders fit the same pattern of attacks against elderly women in their homes. DNA evidence became the key evidence tying Lott to both murder cases.

Lott was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. His first trial ended in a mistrial after newly discovered evidence created problems that could not be resolved during the trial. He was tried again in Oklahoma County. In December 2001, a jury convicted him of both murders. In January 2002, the court sentenced him to death on both counts.

Lott appealed through state and federal courts. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the convictions and death sentences in 2004. The Tenth Circuit later denied federal habeas relief in 2013, and his final appeals failed.

Before his execution, Lott appeared by teleconference at a clemency hearing. He apologized to the victims’ families and asked for forgiveness, but he did not ask the board to spare his life. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4–1 against clemency.

Ronald Clinton Lott was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on December 10, 2013. He was pronounced dead at 6:06 p.m.