He is accused of the brutal rape and murder of an 84-year-old woman, yet prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Tyrone Dale David Woodfork. The Tulsa County District Attorney's Office points to Woodfork's low IQ and history of mental limitations in removing the death penalty as a possible sentence for his alleged crimes, instead seeking life or life without parole.

Woodfork is charged with multiple felony counts, including one count of first degree murder, two counts of first degree rape, two counts of armed robbery, one count of burglary, and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors say he broke into the home of an elderly couple, Bob and Nancy Strait, beating them both and raping Nancy Strait. She died of complications from head trauma the day following the attack. Bob Strait died less than two months later, but because a medical examiner said his probable cause of death was underlying health conditions, Woodfork was not charged in his death.

Although the prosecutors considered seeking death penalty due to the "egregious nature of the crime" and the age of the victim, the D.A.'s office determined that Woodfork's borderline I.Q. could render him ineligible for the death penalty. 

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the execution of mentally retarded defendants is unconstitutional. However, the ruling left it up to the states to determine what constitutes mental retardation for exclusion from the death penalty.

In Murphy v. State, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals specified the following criteria for determining mental retardation in capital cases: First, an I.Q. of 70 or below, and additionally, a preponderance of evidence indicating the following:

  • (1) (s)he functions at a significantly subaverage intellectual level that substantially limits his or her ability to understand and process information, to communicate, to learn from experience or mistakes, to engage in logical reasoning, to control impulses, and to understand the reaction of others;
  • (2) the mental retardation manifested itself before the age of eighteen; and
  • (3) the mental retardation is accompanied by significant limitations in adaptive functioning in at least two of the following skill areas: communication; self care; social/interpersonal skills; home living; self-direction, academics; health and safety; use of community resources; and work. (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Legal Eagle Vol. 18, No. 1)
  • In 2005, the Court also ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional for juveniles who committed crimes when they were younger than 18 years old. The 2005 ruling overturned a 1989 ruling which allowed the death penalty for people aged 16 and older. Recently, the federal regulations regarding juveniles and the death penalty were in the spotlight after Paula Cooper, sentenced to die when she was only 16, was released from prison. Cooper was convicted of killing a 78-year-old Sunday School teacher, stabbing her 33 times, and stealing the woman's car and $10. Cooper, who spent 27 years in prison, is now 43 years old.