Residents tweet about Oklahoma City bombing anniversary
Today marks the 17th Anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.
I woke up this morning at 8:30 a.m. and started reading tweets from people who lost loved ones in the bombing. Some sent prayers via Twitter while others talked about where they were when the bomb went off. (more…)
Court notebook: New search warrant filed in Rebecca Bryan case
An Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent has filed a new search warrant in the case of Rebecca Bryan, a Mustang woman accused in the shooting death of her husband, Keith Bryan.
Rebecca Bryan, 52, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of her husband, the Nichols Hills fire chief, on Sept. 20 inside they Mustang home at at 1320 W Rose Hill Drive.
A judge ordered her to face trial on April 4. Bryan is scheduled to appear for arraignment May 22 in El Reno.
Agent Shawn Wright filed the warrant for a .380 Ruger LCP gun box that once belonged to the couple’s son, Kent Bryan. Officials also requested a fired casing from the pistol, related paperwork and a receipt for the gun.
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Family of missing woman from Oklahoma receiving texts she’s been sold as sex slave
The family of an Oklahoma City woman last seen Tuesday has received text messages from their loved one’s phone that says
The family of an Oklahoma City woman last seen Tuesday has received text messages from their loved one's phone that says she's been sold as a sex slave. Oklahoma City police issued a missing persons alert April 5, 2012 for Marlena Johnson, 22, who is 5-foot-3 and weighs 132 pounds.
Oklahoma City police issued a missing persons alert Friday for Marlena Johnson, 22, who is 5-foot-3 and weighs 132 pounds.
Johnson’s aunt, Lashaunda Wrenn, of Oklahoma City, told police her niece packed her things and possibly took a bus to Ardmore on Tuesday, after getting a ride to the station from a friend.
Since she last saw her niece, Wrenn has received text messages from Johnson’s cellphone, allegedly from someone besides her, Wrenn told police.
Other family members also have received the messages, which state she is being held hostage and is possibly in danger, according to a police department statement.
Johnson’s aunt told police her niece had been living with her, commuting between Oklahoma City and her previous home in Ardmore. Wrenn said Johnson was going to Ardmore to see her child’s grave.
Police ask individuals with information on Johnson’s whereabouts to call 911.
Police seek man who exposed himself at Ardmore business
The Ardmore Police Department is asking for help in identifying a man who walked into a local business and exposed himself March 21.
Police said the man is a white male in his 20s and was wearing a blue T-shirt and ball cap. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact Ardmore Police at (580) 223-1212.
Clemency denied for man convicted of killing Oklahoma City woman in 1986
From the Associated Press
Gov. Mary Fallin has decided the execution will proceed for a man scheduled to die for the 1986 slaying of the mother of his two children.
Fallin on Tuesday rejected a 2005 recommendation by the state Pardon and Parole Board to commute the sentence of Garry Thomas Allen to life in prison without parole.
Allen’s attorneys argued that he was mentally impaired when he killed 42-year-old Lawanna Gail Titsworth on Nov. 21, 1986, in Oklahoma City. They say he had been self-medicating for an underlying mental illness, and that his mental condition has worsened.
A police officer shot Allen in the face during a struggle after Allen shot Titsworth.
Oklahoma has four doses remaining of a drug used to execute inmates.
The execution date has been rescheduled for April 12.
Pottawatomie County officials arrest two men after pursuit, manhunt
See more updates on the Pottawatomie County sheriff’s office Facebook page.
Oklahoma Governor unlikely to stay execution
From the Associated Press
A spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin said the governor is unlikely to stay the execution of Timothy Stemple, who is scheduled to die on Thursday.
He said Tuesday that Fallin reviewed the case and said it would be “very unlikely” a stay would be granted.
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty met with Fallin’s deputy general counsel Rebecca Frazier to plead for a stay of execution.
Coalition co-chair Lydia Polley said Stemple’s family has compiled evidence that was never presented in court.
Stemple was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of his 30-year-old wife, Trisha Stemple, who was beaten with a baseball bat and run over with a pickup truck in Tulsa.
Man shot by police officer near Edmond restaurant
A man was shot in the stomach after police said he pointed a gun at an Edmond police officer in the area of E 2 Street and S Bryant Avenue Tuesday.
Read more about the shooting on the Storify below. If you can’t read the text, click here.
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OSBI investigates jail death in Hobart
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents are investigating the death of a man at the city jail in Hobart.
Spokeswoman Jessica Brown said agents were called Tuesday morning to look into the death of Michael Hall, 29, of Lawton, who was booked into the jail on a complaint of public intoxication. Hall was found dead inside his cell Tuesday. Officials said he was inside the cell by himself and there were no obvious signs of trauma to his body.
The medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. Agents have spent the day conducting interviews of those working at the jail facility.
Pittsburg County man convicted of child molestation
A Pittsburg County man accused of inappropriately touching a 5-year-old girl was convicted Thursday of child molestation.
The McAlester News-Capital reports:
Leslie D. Wolfenbarger Sr., age 62, faced a jury Wednesday and Thursday after being accused of inappropriately touching the private areas of a five-year-old girl.
After deliberating for less than three hours, the jury came back with the guilty verdict.
Read the full story here.
