JUST IN: Wendell Grissom Executed in Oklahoma for Killing a Nursing Student | Last Words & Last Meal

JUST IN: Wendell Grissom Executed in Oklahoma for Killing a Nursing Student | Last Words & Last Meal

On March 20th, 2025 after spending more than 17 years on death row, Wendell Gryom was executed by lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in Mallister, Oklahoma. He was 56 years old. In this video, we will talk about what happened, his last words, and his last meal. For his final meal, Wendell requested a Canadian bacon supreme pizza, a pint of vanilla ice cream, and a pint of Coca-Cola.

 His last words were lengthy and emotional. I apologize to all of you that I’ve hurt. I regret so much that I’ve put that hatred in your heart for me. But to uncover the events of that fateful day and why Wendell ended up being executed, we have to go back to a November afternoon in 2005 and a random act of violence that would destroy multiple families and end with one woman dying to protect two children who weren’t even her own.

It was November 3rd, 2005. Dro Cop was at home in her rural residence near Watunga, Oklahoma. It was a Thursday afternoon, quiet and peaceful in the small community of Blaine County. Drew was 43 years old, a wife and mother of two young daughters. Her youngest, Gracie, was only 4 weeks old. Her older daughter, Riley, was 18 months old.

Drew’s husband was at work, and she was home alone with the babies. But she wasn’t completely alone. Her best friend, Amber Dawn Matthews, had come over to visit and help with the children. Amber was 23 years old, young and full of life, working at a hospital while attending nursing school. She had a kind heart and a vivaceious personality.

People who knew Amber described her as someone who went into nursing because she genuinely wanted to help people. That afternoon, Amber was sitting with Drew, holding baby Gracie, talking and laughing the way best friends do. Riley was in her crib in the bedroom, taking a nap.

 It was an ordinary day, a safe day, the kind of day where nothing bad is supposed to happen. But 12 mi away, two men were driving through the countryside in a white Chevrolet truck, looking for a house to rob. and they were about to choose Drew’s home. Wendell Gryom was born on October 11th, 1968 in Fort Cobb, Oklahoma. His life began with trauma.

 During birth, Wendell was deprived of oxygen, a condition that can cause permanent brain damage. As he grew up, the effects of that birth injury became apparent. Wendell struggled academically. He struggled socially. He left school without finishing high school. By his teenage years, Wendell had started using alcohol and drugs, substances that would grip him for the rest of his life.

 As an adult, Wendell worked as a truck driver in Arkansas. He was 5’9″, 216 lb, and had a lengthy criminal record. He was a convicted felon. He struggled with depression and impulse control. Medical scans would later show that Wendell had brain atrophy in the areas responsible for decision-making and impulse control damage likely caused by the oxygen deprivation at birth combined with years of substance abuse.

 But none of that mattered on November 3rd, 2005. What mattered was that Wendell Gryom was on parole, drunk, high, and armed with two loaded firearms, and he was looking for someone to rob. The day before on November 2nd, 2005, Wendell had left Arkansas and headed west on Interstate 40 in his white Chevrolet truck. Just across the Oklahoma state line, he picked up a homeless hitchhiker named Jesse Floyd John’s.

 John’s was older, desperate, and willing to go along with whatever plan would get him some money. The two men drank whiskey together as they drove. They discussed committing robberies and burglaries to raise cash. That evening, Wendell checked into an Oklahoma City hotel, paying $266 for a weekly rental. John’s slept on the floor of Wendell’s room.

 The next morning, November 3rd, Wendell showed John’s how to load a 44 caliber black powder pistol, one of two firearms he had brought with him. Wendell also had a 22 caliber pistol. Both guns were loaded and ready. Then Wendell and John’s got into the white Chevrolet truck and drove north into Blaine County, a rural area with scattered homes and farms.

 They drove slowly, looking for a target. They were looking for a house that seemed isolated, a house where they could break in, steal valuables, and leave before anyone could stop them. And then they saw Drew Cop’s home. At 12:30 p.m., Wendell pulled his white Chevrolet truck into the driveway of Drew’s residence.

 He and John sat there for a moment, surveying the property. There were no other cars in the driveway. The house looked quiet. Wendell made a decision. This was the place. He turned to John’s and said something chilling. Wait until the shooting stops and then come in and help me burglarize the home. Wendell wasn’t planning a burglary.

 he was planning a massacre. He grabbed his .22 caliber pistol, got out of the truck, and walked toward the house. Jon stayed in the vehicle, waiting just as Wendell had instructed. Inside the house, Drew was sitting in her glider chair, holding baby Gracie. Amber was nearby. Riley was still napping in her crib.

 The two women were talking, enjoying the afternoon, completely unaware that a killer was approaching the back door. Wendell walked around to the rear of the house and knocked on the sliding glass door. Amber Matthews stood up and went to answer it. Drew turned in her glider chair, still holding Gracie to see who was at the door.

 Wendell stood on the other side of the glass, trying to look casual, trying to look harmless. Amber opened the door slightly. Wendell smiled and asked, “Is your husband home?” Drew, still seated in her chair, replied, “My husband is at work.” Wendell nodded and said, “I’ll come back later.” Amber closed the door.

 She turned away, thinking the interaction was over, thinking the stranger would leave. But Wendell didn’t leave. He stepped back from the door, raised his 22 caliber pistol, and fired. The bullet shattered the sliding glass door, sending shards of glass exploding into the living room. Amber and Drew screamed.

 Wendell stepped through the shattered door, glass crunching under his boots, the gun still in his hand. He was inside, and the killing was about to begin. Drew was still sitting in her glider chair, holding baby Gracie, frozen in shock. Wendell turned the gun toward her and fired. The bullet struck Drew in the hand.

 She cried out in pain, blood pouring from the wound. Wendell walked toward her, his face cold and emotionless. Drew, terrified and bleeding, begged him, “Take what you want and leave. Please, just take what you want and leave.” Wendell didn’t respond. He just laughed. He pulled the 44 caliber black powder pistol from his waist and pointed it at Drew’s head.

 Drew, desperate to survive, reached up and grabbed the gun. As Wendell pulled the trigger, the bullet tore through her hand and struck the side of her head, fracturing her skull. Blood poured from the wound. Drew fell from the chair, landing hard on the floor. Wendell stood over her and fired again, this time shooting her in the hip.

 Drew was now on the floor, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds, her skull fractured, her body in agony. But she was still conscious, still alive, and still determined to protect her children. While Wendell was shooting Drew, Amber Matthews made a split-second decision that would define her legacy. She grabbed baby Gracie from Drew and ran.

 She sprinted toward the bedroom where Riley was in her crib. Amber’s instinct wasn’t to save herself. It was to protect the children. She ran into the bedroom, clutching Gracie to her chest, positioning herself between the babies and the gunman. Wendell followed her. He walked calmly into the bedroom, the 44 caliber pistol still in his hand.

 Amber was standing near Riley’s crib, holding Gracie, her body shielding both children. She looked at Wendell and begged for her life. She begged him not to shoot. She begged him to spare the children. Wendell raised the gun and shot Amber in the back of the head. The bullet entered her skull and Amber collapsed to the floor, still holding baby Gracie.

 But Wendell wasn’t finished. He walked over to where Amber lay on the ground, stood directly over her, and fired a second shot into her forehead. It was an execution. Amber Matthews, a 23-year-old nursing student who had come to help her best friend with two babies, was dead. Outside, Jesse Floyd John’s had heard the gunshots.

 He got out of the truck and walked toward the house. John stepped through the shattered sliding glass door and looked around. He saw blood on the floor. He heard crying. And then he saw Wendell standing in the bedroom, holding the 44 caliber pistol, standing over Amber Matthews’s body. John’s watched as Wendell fired another shot into Amber, making sure she was dead.

 John’s called out to Wendell, telling him that someone had run from the house. Wendell turned and looked toward the living room. Drew was gone. Despite being shot at least three times, despite having a fractured skull, despite bleeding heavily from her hand, head, and hip, Drew Cop had crawled out of the house. She had seen Wendell’s white Chevrolet truck in the driveway.

 She had seen that John’s had left the keys inside, and she had made a decision. She was going to escape. Drew pulled herself into the driver’s seat of Wendle’s truck. Her hands slick with blood, her vision blurred, her body screaming in pain. She started the engine. Wendell heard the truck start and ran outside. He saw Drew behind the wheel, saw her putting the truck in reverse, and realized she was getting away.

 Wendell raised the 44 caliber pistol and fired at Drew as she backed out of the driveway. The bullet missed. Drew drove. She didn’t know where she was going. She didn’t know if she would survive. All she knew was that her children were still in that house with a killer and she needed to get help. Not far from her home.

 Drew saw three truckers hauling rock on the side of the road. She stopped the truck, stumbled out, and collapsed. The truckers ran over to her. Drew, bleeding and barely conscious, told them, “My friend and my children are dead. I’ve been shot.” One of the truckers was a retired police officer.

 He got into the truck with Drew and called the Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office. Then he drove Drew to the hospital in nearby Watonga. Back at the house, police were already on their way. Officers approached the residents cautiously, not knowing if the shooter was still inside. They entered through the shattered sliding glass door and found a scene of horror.

Blood was everywhere. In the living room, in the hallway, in the bedroom, they found Amber Matthews on the floor of the bedroom, shot twice in the head, dead. And standing near her body. Still alive and unharmed, were Riley and Gracie. Both children were crying, but physically unharmed. Amber had given her life to protect them, and because of her, both children survived.

 Wendell Gryom and Jesse Floyd John’s realized their plan had fallen apart. Drew had escaped. The police were coming. They needed to get out of there. The two men found a red four-wheeler ATV in the cop’s garage and took off across the countryside. But they didn’t get far. The ATV ran out of gas.

 Stranded, Wendell and John’s flagged down a farmer and asked for a ride to the Hilltop Cafe, a small local restaurant. The farmer, unaware of what had just happened, gave them a lift. At the cafe, Wendell and John’s made the staff uncomfortable with their strange behavior. The staff called the police to report two suspicious men. Officers arrived at the Hilltop Cafe approximately 30 minutes after the shooting.

 They found Wendell Gryom and Jesse Floyd John’s buying beer. Both men were arrested on the spot. Wendell confessed within hours. During his first police interview, he wrote an apology to Amber Matthews’s family. He told officers, “I don’t know what made me do what I did.” But the evidence told a different story.

 Wendell had told John’s to wait until the shooting stops before entering the house. He had brought two loaded firearms. He had shattered a glass door and opened fire immediately. This wasn’t a robbery gone wrong. This was premeditated murder. Amber Matthews was laid to rest, mourned by her family, her friends, and a community that couldn’t comprehend why such a kind young woman had been taken so violently.

 Her father described her as a cute blonde, blue-eyed bundle of joy, as a child. He said the ordeal of her death had taken his breath away. Amber had been killed in cold blood for no reason, shot twice in the head while holding a 4-week old baby, executed by a man she had never met. Drew Cop survived, but her life was forever changed.

 She spent weeks in the hospital recovering from her injuries. Doctors were able to remove some of the bullet fragments, but others remained lodged in her body, too dangerous to extract. Drew would carry those fragments for the rest of her life, a constant physical reminder of the day her best friend died saving her children. She also carried the emotional scars.

For years, Drew lived in constant fear. She struggled with nightmares, flashbacks, and the trauma of knowing that Amber had died because Wendell Gryom randomly chose their home. Wendell Gryom’s trial began in 2008. He was charged with firstdegree murder for the death of Amber Matthews, shooting with intent to kill for the attack on Drew Cop, grand lararseny, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and lararseny of a motor vehicle.

The defense did not dispute Wendle’s role in the crime. Instead, they argued that the killing was not premeditated, that it was a robbery gone bad, and that Wendell’s alcohol use should be considered a mitigating factor. But the prosecution painted a very different picture. They described Amber’s killing as intentional and unprovoked.

 They emphasized that Wendell had come to the home to kill, that he had told Jon’s to wait until the shooting stops, that he had executed Amber at close range while she held a baby. They called it a random, brutal attack on innocent strangers in the sanctity of their own home. Even Wendell’s own defense attorney seemed to understand the gravity of what had happened.

 During the trial, the defense attorney described the crime as a cold-blooded, calculated, premeditated act of murder. He told the jury, “There is no question that he is guilty of premeditated first-degree murder.” He said Wendell had, in a premeditated manner, took the life of a 23-year-old girl who had nothing to do with it. The jury agreed.

 On June 17th, 2008, Wendell Gryom was found guilty on all counts. The jury recommended the death penalty. The judge agreed. Wendell was sentenced to death by lethal injection. He was also sentenced to lengthy prison terms for the other convictions. Wendell was taken to Oklahoma State Penitentiary in Mallister to await his execution.

Jesse Floyd John’s, Wendle’s accomplice, faced comparable charges. But John’s entered a plea agreement and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. As of 2025, John’s, now 74 years old, is still serving his sentence. For the next 17 years, Wendell Gryom sat on death row, filing appeal after appeal, trying to overturn his conviction, trying to save his life.

 His attorneys focused on a key issue, Wendell’s brain damage. Medical scans, including CT and MRI imaging, showed that Wendell had brain abnormalities. He had atrophy in the areas of the brain responsible for decision-making and impulse control. This damage was likely caused by the oxygen deprivation he suffered during birth, compounded by years of alcohol and drug abuse.

Wendell’s attorneys argued that this evidence should have been presented to the jury during his trial, that it was powerful mitigating evidence that could have changed the outcome of his sentencing. But the courts disagreed. They ruled that the issue was procedurally barred because Wendell had not raised it during his original trial or in earlier appeals.

 The courts also noted that Wendell’s trial attorneys had made a strategic decision to focus on his remorse and acceptance of responsibility rather than on mental health issues. Every appeal was denied. The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld his conviction. The federal courts refused to intervene. Wendell Gryom would be executed. In the years leading up to his execution, something remarkable happened.

 Three of the jurors who had sentenced Wendell to death wrote letters expressing regret. They said that after learning about Wendell’s brain damage and neurological deficits, they were no longer confident in their decision to sentence him to death. One juror, Deborah Given, wrote in 2012, “After being presented with this new information, I am no longer confident in my decision to sentence Mr.

 Gryom to death.” But it was too late. The legal process had run its course. Wendell’s execution was scheduled for March 20th, 2025. On February 5th, 2025, Wendell’s case went before the Oklahoma pardon and parole board for a clemency hearing. His attorneys argued that his brain damage and addiction had contributed to the crime, that he had been a model inmate for 17 years, that he had accepted responsibility and shown genuine remorse.

 They presented letters from the three jurors who regretted their decision. They argued that executing a man with documented brain damage was cruel and unjust. But Wendell made a decision that he would later regret. He chose not to speak before the pardon and parole board. He did not appear at the clemency hearing via video.

 He did not address the board and he did not address Amber Matthews family directly. Drew Cop, however, did speak. She appeared before the board and read a victim impact statement that was raw and powerful. I carry the results of your evil actions deep in my body with the fragments of the bullets that cannot be removed. Drew said, “I carry the results of your evil actions in the mental and physical scars that will never fade.

” Drew told the board that she had forgiven Wendell, but that forgiveness did not mean he should be spared. The coward needs to die. She said he had a choice that day and he chose to kill. We would have given him whatever he wanted. He came in shooting and never stopped shooting. Drew explained that she had to forgive Wendell in order to return to normaly to take back control of her life.

because if you don’t forgive, it controls my life and I’m not going to let him control my life any longer. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4:1 to deny clemency. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said, “It’s clear that Mr. Gryom should be granted no sympathy, no clemency. His acts were heinous.

” Wendell’s execution was set to proceed. In the days before his death, Wendell gave an interview to Newsweek. He expressed regret for not appearing at the clemency hearing. “I could have stood before them and tell them I’m so sorry for all the pain and hurt that I brought onto you and your family,” he said.

 Wendell also spoke about his faith. “I know where I stand with God. I’ve asked for forgiveness. I’m not scared of dying necessarily because I know that I’ve asked for forgiveness. I’m not worthy of it. I admit that. But Jesus Christ died on that cross for everybody. That includes me and you. Wendell said he didn’t blame anyone for where he was.

 I’m not proud of what I’ve done. It’s no one’s fault that I’m here but my own. I don’t blame nobody but myself. He never denied his guilt. March 20th, 2025. Wendell Gryom’s final day on Earth. More than two dozen of Amber Matthews friends and family members gathered as witnesses. Among them were Drew Cop, now 63 years old, and her two daughters, Riley, now 20, and Gracie, now 19.

The children who had been in the house that day, the children Amber had died protecting, were now young women, and they had come to watch the man who murdered their mother’s best friend die. Outside the prison, about 60 protesters held a vigil in a field across from death row. They prayed for Wendell, for Amber, for an end to the death penalty.

Reverend Don Heath of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the death penalty said, “Wendel Gryom faced his death bravely. He repeatedly expressed his remorse and made peace with his execution. But inside the execution chamber, there was no peace, only justice.” At 10 waham, the execution began. Wendell was strapped to a gurnie, an IV line in his right arm.

 The warden asked if he had any final words. Wendell turned his head toward the window where the witnesses were watching. He made a lengthy final statement. I apologize to all of you that I’ve hurt. I regret so much that I’ve put that hatred in your heart for me. He acknowledged that he had been drunk, high, and out of his mind at the time of the crime. He said he was sorry.

 A minister stood at Wendell’s feet and prayed as the lethal drugs began flowing into his veins. Oklahoma used a three drug protocol. The first drug was a sedative to render Wendell unconscious. The second drug was a paralytic to stop his breathing. The third drug was potassium chloride to stop his heart.

 Wendell exhaled forcefully several times. The sound of his breathing filled the chamber. Then, strangely, he could be heard snoring. About 5 minutes into the execution, a doctor entered the chamber and declared Wendell unconscious. At 10:09 a.m., Wendell appeared to stop breathing. The color drained from his face.

 His chest stopped rising and falling. At 10:13 a.m., just 13 minutes after the execution began, Wendell Gryom was pronounced dead. The witness curtain was closed. The execution was over. Wendell Gryom, who had murdered a 23-year-old woman in cold blood, who had shot a mother three times in front of her children who had executed Amber Matthews while she held a 4-week old baby, was dead at the age of 56.

After the execution, Drew Cop spoke to reporters. She was emotional, her voice shaking. It took him a total of 13 minutes to die and it took him a total of 2 minutes to kill my best friend, Drew said. She acknowledged that Wendell’s apology seemed sincere, but added, “It’s too late.” Drew said she didn’t believe justice could ever be fully served.

I don’t think justice is ever fully served because Amber is not ever going to be here again. She spoke about Amber with love and admiration. She was unbelievable. She saved my kids. Drew said she hoped to finally put Wendle out of her mind. I pray that’s what I can do. He has controlled my life for the last 20 years.

The shooting had left Drew living in constant fear and she hoped Wendell’s death would bring her peace. Riley Coff, now 20 years old, also spoke. We’re at peace with the fact that this was what was chosen for him, and now we don’t ever have to think about it again, she said. We moved on from it after it happened, but with the court dates coming back up every few years, it reopened the wounds.

But this is just the final chapter, and now it’s over for good. Riley said she felt closure following Wendell’s death. Attorney General Gentner Drummond released a statement. Justice has been served for Amber Matthews, her loved ones, and the Cop family. The execution of this sentence affirms our commitment to holding accountable those who commit the most heinous crimes against our citizens.

While nothing can bring Amber back, I hope this final chapter brings some measure of peace to those who have waited so long for justice to prevail. But not everyone believed justice had been served. Wendell’s attorney, Christy Christopher, a federal public defender, released a statement mourning her client.

 The Wendell Gryom who the state of Oklahoma took from us today is not the same person who committed the crimes 20 years ago, she wrote. Wendell had become a deeply reflective, spiritual, and peaceful man who was wellresected by Oklahoma Department of Correction staff and his fellow inmates. Wendell was acutely aware each day that he stole something from the Matthews and Cop families that he could never give back.

 This realization drove him to strive to be a better person. Christopher said Wendell had spent his final years ministering to others and sharing anything he had with fellow prisoners. We remember Wendell as a loyal and caring friend and a devoted son and brother who has spent the past two decades trying to atone for his harmful actions.

 Wendell’s execution perpetuates a cycle of pain and trauma. He cannot change the past, but he is now and always has been deeply ashamed and remorseful. The case of Wendell Gryom raises difficult questions that have no easy answers. Should someone with documented brain damage be executed? Does neurological impairment caused by birth trauma diminish responsibility for violent crime? Can genuine remorse and 17 years of model behavior atone for a brutal murder? These are questions that legal scholars, ethicists, and society continue to debate. What is not

debatable is that Amber Matthews should still be alive. She was a 23-year-old nursing student with her whole life ahead of her. She went to visit her best friend to help with two babies, and she died protecting those children from a killer. Amber grabbed baby Gracie and ran into the bedroom. She positioned herself between the children and the gunman.

She begged for their lives. And when Wendel Gryom shot her in the back of the head, she fell still, holding Gracie, shielding the baby with her own body. Amber Matthews was a hero. Her sacrifice ensured that Riley and Gracie Cop survived that day. And now, 20 years later, those two girls are young women who carry Amber’s memory with them every single day.

 Drew Cop survived, but at an unimaginable cost. She carries bullet fragments in her body that cannot be removed. She carries physical scars from the gunshot wounds. She carries a fractured skull that healed but will never be the same. And she carries the emotional trauma of watching her best friend die, of knowing that Amber was murdered while protecting her children, of living for 20 years with the fear and pain that Wendell Gryom inflicted on her family.

 Drew’s husband, who had been looking forward to the execution day, died in an oil field accident a few years before justice was served. He never got to see Wendell Gryom held accountable. Drew attended the execution for her husband, for her children, and for Amber. And when it was over, she said she finally felt like she could let go of the hatred, let go of the fear, and take back control of her life.

Wendell Gryom spent 17 years on death row. During that time, his attorneys argued he had changed, that he had become a better person, that he deserved mercy. Three jurors said they regretted sentencing him to death. Advocates argued that executing someone with brain damage was cruel and unjust, but the victim’s families disagreed.

 They said that what happened to Wendell as a child did not excuse what he did to Amber Matthews. They said he made a choice on November 3rd, 2005 to knock on a stranger’s door with a loaded gun. He made a choice to shatter that door and open fire. He made a choice to shoot a mother three times. He made a choice to execute a 23-year-old woman while she held a baby.

And they believed he deserved to die for those choices. On March 20th, 2025, at 10:13 a.m., Wendell Gryom’s life ended. The family of Amber Matthews, who had waited 20 years, finally saw the man who murdered their daughter, held accountable. Drew Cop, who had been shot three times and left with permanent scars, said she felt closure.

 Riley and Gracie, the children Amber died protecting, said they felt peace. and Wendell Gryom, who had spent 17 years on death row trying to atone for his crimes, was dead. The case of Wendell Gryom is now closed. A man with brain damage who couldn’t control his impulses. A man who picked up a hitchhiker and decided to commit a robbery.

 A man who knocked on a stranger’s door and opened fire. A man who murdered a hero. 17 years on death row. Multiple appeals, all denied. a last meal of Canadian bacon, supreme pizza, vanilla ice cream, and Coca-Cola. A final statement apologizing for the pain he caused. And finally, on a Thursday morning in March 2025, a needle in the arm and a heart that stopped beating.

 Justice, such as it is, was served. This is true crime matters, and Amber Matthews life mattered. Her sacrifice mattered and her memory will live on in the two young women she saved.