Local News
Grand jury rules on shooting death
A Garvin County grand jury has concluded there is no evidence to show a crime of any kind was involved in last year’s shooting death of a Wynnewood man.
In a “partial” report released Friday, jurors indicated the evidence and testimony they looked into during their closed investigation supports the official ruling that Tom Horton’s death in December 2008 was from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The six-woman, six-man jury was first convened in August after two of Horton’s sons and three friends successfully petitioned for a grand jury to look closer at his death.
The jury’s initial findings do not match the suspicions of the five petitioners — Pat and Matt Horton, Raymond Bazor, Karen Bazor and Shannon Kile — who believed Horton’s death in his Wynnewood home may have involved some kind of criminal act.
“Grand jury investigation findings are consistent with original investigative findings and sufficient evidence exists to rule Tom Horton’s death a suicide,” jurors concluded in the report released by Garvin County Assistant District Attorney George Burnett.
“We, the grand jury, having listened to witnesses and recalled the petitioners regarding their concerns about the case. We have listened to all the evidence and find there is no evidence that conclusively proves a homicide. We find that most of the information gathered by the petitioners of the grand jury to be untrained speculation and guesswork,” the document states.
The report described the evidence presented by the petitioners as “circumstantial.”
“Subsequently, after hearing all the evidence, we find that no evidence indicated a crime was committed.
“We do not find that further investigation is an efficient use of taxpayer’s dollars. Further investigation of persons in this case may, in fact, be an abuse of process.”
Jurors also focused a critical eye on the investigation of Horton’s death conducted by law enforcement.
They concluded the evidence offered by the initial investigation was “inconsistent.”
They believe a problem existed with the officers’ authority and control at the crime scene.
“The first officer on the scene thought he controlled the scene until deputies arrived from Garvin County. He thought Garvin County was in charge at that point. The assistant chief thought the first officer at the scene was in charge until much later in the investigation, based upon communication with the Wynnewood police chief,” the report states.
“The deputies from Garvin County never thought they were in charge of the scene but were there to assist Wynnewood with the investigation.”
The jury made it clear it does not accuse any officers of “misfeasance.” However, they concluded the inconsistencies could have been avoided if a forensic evidence technician from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation had been called in to work the entire scene and not just near the body, which jurors stated was insufficient.
“We strongly recommend that OSBI be called to assist local law enforcement on any unattended death involving violence,” the report stated.
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