By Barry Porterfield
The disappointment is great for the five petitioners who didn’t get the findings they had hoped for from a Garvin County grand jury’s investigation into last year’s shooting death of a Wynnewood man.
Suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the death of Tom Horton in December 2008, two of Horton’s sons and three family friends pushed for the grand jury, but now don’t agree with its ruling the death was a suicide.
Petitioners Pat and Matt Horton, Raymond Bazor, Karen Bazor and Shannon Kile expressed their opinion in a brief prepared statement released this week.
“Although we appreciate the hard work put forth by the grand jury and the district attorney’s office, we respectfully disagree with the findings as published,” they stated.
“We are unable to embrace the scope and direction of the investigation until all available information regarding Tom Horton’s death has been scrutinized,” the five petitioners wrote.
The petitioners have maintained they believed Horton’s death in his Wynnewood home may have involved some kind of criminal act. That position led to their successful summer efforts to collect several thousand signatures on a petition in support of the convening of a grand jury.
In a “partial” report released late last week, the six-woman, six-man jury indicated the evidence and testimony they looked into during their closed investigation supports the official ruling that Horton’s death was from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“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.
“We have listened to all the evidence and find there is no evidence that conclusively proves a homicide. We find that no evidence indicated a crime was committed.”
Even with the ruling the grand jury’s work is not finished.
According to Garvin County Assistant District Attorney George Burnett, jurors are still expected to at some point release a final report in the Horton case.
“When they finish they will do a full report. They haven’t issued a final report, which implies they’re still working,” he said.
As for any action that can now be taken by the petitioners, Burnett said there really isn’t another step for them.
“That’s why a grand jury is grand. There is no appellate court after them,” Burnett said.
He adds the jury is still officially convened and scheduled to meet again on Jan. 13.
In addition to the Horton case, it’s believed grand jurors are looking into a prescription drug case involving doctor shopping allegations presented to them during recent closed-door sessions. It remains uncertain if any other cases will be considered by the jury.
“They can still investigate whatever they choose,” Burnett said.
