The Execution of Marilyn Plantz

Marilyn Plantz was yet another example of a woman deciding that she no longer wants her husband so he has to be murdered and let us see if we can claim his insurance money.  What had husband Jim Plantz done to deserve his fate?  nothing at all.  He was a devoted husband and a very devoted father.  She grew bored with her life and wanted something more exciting.  She had an affair with a much younger man, 18 year old Clifford Bryson.  As usualy happens in these scenarios, she paints a picture of a violent and abusive spouse, who threatened her harm if she left him.  Her young lover swallowed all this, and went along with her suggestion that it would be better if he died and that he would receive a share of his insurance money. 

    Bryson convinced a friend, Clinton McKimble, to assist in the murder.  The plan was put into action on August 26 1988.  They waited in the house for Jim Plantz to come home.  Mrs Plantz was in bed, as were her children.  When he walked in, they attacked him with baseball bats, pummelling him mercilessly.  She stayed in bed listening to the attack on her husband.  They loaded his body into his car, drove off to a secluded spot and started pouring fuel inside and over the car. But Jim Plantz stirred.  He was not dead.  But that did not stop Bryson & McKimble.  They continued pouring petrol around the car and then set it ablaze.  Jim Plantz died the most gruesome of deaths.

    Marilyn Plantz attempted to make it seem that her husband had not come home.  This plan unravelled as Police enquiries unearthed Bryson & McKimble.  McKimble cracked, and in exchange for no Death Sentence, he would testify against the other two.  He said that after the beating, she came downstairs but looking at his injuries decided that it could not look like an accident so suggested they take him and his car and burn it.  He described how Jim Plantz stirred but it made no difference to them.  Plantz & Bryson were sentenced to death.  In June 2000, the State of Oklahoma executed Clifford Bryson by lethal injection.  Marilyn Plantz received a lethal injection in May 2001, witnessed by many of her husbands` family.