Murderer Who ‘Left Trail of Devastated Families’ Awaits Execution in OK
A convicted serial rapist and murderer is awaiting execution in Oklahoma after his actions devastated several families.
William Lewis Reece, 63, was serving a life sentence in Texas for the murders of a young girl, a teenager and a 20-year-old woman, Fox 25 reported Monday.
In a press release Monday, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office announced that Reece had been returned to Oklahoma to be executed at the McAlester State Penitentiary.
“In 2021, Reece was convicted and sentenced to death by an Oklahoma County jury for the murder of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnston in July 1997. Reece abducted Johnston from a car wash in Bethany, sexually assaulted and killed her, then dumped her body in a remote location west of the Yukon,” the statement continued:
The case remained unsolved for nearly two decades until 2016, when Reece confessed to killing Johnston during interviews with a Texas Ranger about the murder and sexual assault of young women in Oklahoma and Texas. DNA evidence from Johnston’s body confirmed Reece’s confession.
After his death sentence in Oklahoma, Reece returned to Texas in 2022, where he pleaded guilty to the murders of Laura Smither, 12, Jessica Cain, 17, and Kelli Cox, 20. He received a life sentence for all three murders.
Reece spent 10 years in prison for raping two women in 1986 and, upon his release, moved to Harris County. He then murdered Smither in April 1997 after kidnapping her while she was jogging in Friendswood. Her body was eventually found in a retention pond, Click 2 Houston reported Tuesday.
“In May 1997, Reece kidnapped Sandra Sapaugh from a convenience store in Webster. However, Sapaugh managed to escape by jumping from Reece’s truck as it sped down the Gulf Freeway,” the outlet reported.
A few months later, he kidnapped Cox from a Denton gas station and killed her, then killed Johnston after kidnapping her from an Oklahoma car wash. He killed Cain as she was driving home in Galveston County.
Drummond’s office said the killer had exhausted appeals against his death sentence, but they would object and seek an execution date.
“This predator left a trail of devastated families across two states. Tiffany Johnston was a newlywed with her whole life ahead of her when he violently ended them,” Drummond said. “I am grateful to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for their work to bring this predator back so he can face the punishment a jury determined he deserves.”
