Stouffer was found guilty of murdering Reaves and sentenced to death, and he was additionally given life in prison for shooting Ivens.
[10] On July 22, 1985, Oklahoma County District Judge Raymond Naifeh formally sentenced Stouffer to death for murdering Reaves, as well as life imprisonment for shooting Ivens.
[14] While on death row for the murder of Linda Reaves, Bigler Stouffer was suspected to be the mastermind of a murder-for-hire plot to kill Douglas Ivens.
The Blackstones, who were allegedly involved in the murder of 34-year-old Peggy Gonzales, were said to have received orders from Stouffer to shoot and kill Ivens.
Another death row Inmate, Richard Norman Rojem Jr., who was found guilty of the 1984 rape-murder of his stepdaughter, was allegedly involved in the plot as well.
The Blackstones, who were both sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Gonzales, pleaded guilty to attempting to kill Reaves and Shotts, and were each given consecutive terms of ten years in jail.
[18] The final alleged accomplice, Richard Rojem Jr., went on to become the longest-serving death row prisoner in Oklahoma before he was ultimately executed on June 27, 2024, 40 years after he killed his stepdaughter.
Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Justice Cauthron's decision and directed that Stouffer should either be released or re-tried within 120 days after this ruling.
[28] Prior to Stouffer's sentencing, witnesses were called to testify before the trial court and jury, and the prosecution again sought the death penalty.
In August 2021, the Oklahoma attorney general John M. O'Connor applied to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to schedule the execution dates of Stouffer and six other prisoners – Julius Jones, John Marion Grant, James Allen Coddington, Gilbert Ray Postelle, Wade Lay and Donald A.
[44] On November 17, 2021, a five-member panel of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board held a clemency hearing in Stouffer's case.
[53] On December 9, 2021, 79-year-old Bigler Jobe Stouffer II was officially put to death via lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
In his last words, Stouffer continued to claim innocence in the murder of Linda Reaves and asked God to forgive his executioners.
[54] Prior to his execution, Stouffer told The Frontier in an interview that he found life without parole worse than death and he was thankful and at peace that his clemency was rejected.
[56] After Stouffer's death sentence was carried out, the surviving family members of Linda Reaves expressed their gratitude to Governor Kevin Stitt and Attorney General John M. O'Connor for allowing the execution to move forward.
Reaves's cousin Rodney C. Thomson told reporters during a media conference that justice had prevailed after the family's long wait of 36 years for this outcome.
The autopsy report also cited that Stouffer had pulmonary edema, which could result in a heavy sensation in the lungs and breathing difficulties, especially when lying down.