According to officials, a 44-year-old man convicted of raping and killing a dance student in 1996 was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday in Oklahoma.

Juli Busken, a student at the University of Oklahoma who was 21 years old, was raped and killed in 2006, and Anthony Sanchez was given the death penalty for the crimes.

Using a fatal injection, Sanchez was executed in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to a state's Department of Corrections spokesman.

Sanchez, who was found guilty of the crime based on DNA evidence, vehemently denied any involvement and accused his father, who committed suicide the previous year, of the crime.


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When the younger Sanchez's DNA was connected to Busken's murder, he served time for burglary in jail.

His appeal for a fresh hearing in the case was denied by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in April, a decision applauded by Attorney General Gentner Drummond of Oklahoma at the time.

In addition to refusing to acknowledge his guilt, Sanchez also attempted to pin the murder on his father, a desperate and cowardly claim that DNA testing has disproven.

Since January, Oklahoma has executed three prisoners, including Sanchez.

This year, there have been 18 executions in the US.