William Lewis Reece, a convicted serial rapist and murderer, has been transferred back to Oklahoma where he is now on death row at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Reece, 63, had previously been incarcerated in Texas serving life sentences for three murders.
In 2021, an Oklahoma County jury found Reece guilty and sentenced him to death for the murder of Tiffany Johnston. Johnston, who was 19 years old at the time, was abducted from a car wash in Bethany in July 1997. She was sexually assaulted and killed before her body was left in a remote area west of Yukon.
The case remained unsolved until 2016 when Reece confessed during interviews with a Texas Ranger investigating multiple cases involving murdered and sexually assaulted young women across Oklahoma and Texas. DNA evidence taken from Johnston’s body confirmed his confession.
After being convicted and sentenced to death in Oklahoma, Reece returned to Texas in 2022 where he pleaded guilty to the murders of Laura Smither (age 12), Jessica Cain (age 17), and Kelli Cox (age 20). He received life sentences for each of these crimes.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond commented on the case: “This predator has left a trail of devastated families across two states. Tiffany Johnston was a young bride with her whole life ahead of her when he violently ended it,” said Attorney General Gentner Drummond. “I am grateful to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for its work to bring back this predator so he can face the punishment a jury determined he deserves.”
Reece is currently pursuing appeals against his death sentence. The Attorney General’s Office stated it will oppose all appeals and seek an execution date once legal proceedings are complete.
