2 arrested in death of off-duty Okla. cop and his cousin
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Police in northern Oklahoma arrested two suspects Monday in the weekend slayings of an off-duty Sapulpa police officer and the officer's cousin, who was the father of one of the suspects.
Jonathan Henry Grafton, 22, and his girlfriend, Daphne Mason, 21, were arrested at 10:16 a.m. by a police officer in Enid in connection with the shooting deaths of Sapulpa police Lt. Trey Pritchard and Jeffrey Grafton, Jonathan Grafton's father, Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes said.
Both suspects were arrested on warrants for first-degree murder. It was not immediately clear if either suspect was represented by an attorney.
The victims, both 46, were found dead Saturday night in a motel room in Midwest City, less than 10 miles east of Oklahoma City. Pritchard and the elder Grafton had gone to the motel to recover a pickup truck that had been stolen from Grafton, according to investigators.
"Obviously, there was some concern about this vehicle," Clabes said. The police chief said family members reported that the vehicle, which had been outfitted with a GPS tracking device, had been stolen by Jonathan Grafton and that Pritchard and Jeffrey Grafton had tracked the pickup to the motel.
Clabes said investigators believe Jeffrey Grafton was first to confront his son and his son's girlfriend in the motel room. Pritchard entered the room afterward and the 2000 model truck was driven out of the area a short time later, he said. The pickup truck was found abandoned on Sunday in Yukon, about 16 miles west of Oklahoma City.
A motel housekeeper told police around about 1 p.m. Friday, she heard some screaming coming from the room where the victims were found, reports CBS affiliate KWTV, citing court documents. She reportedly said a short time later, she saw a man and a woman come out of the room and leave in a brown Dodge pickup truck.
Officers reportedly searched the motel room where the victims were found, and said they found Mason's medications and clothing, reports the station.
Enid police Lt. Tim Jacobi said the suspects were arrested when a police officer noticed two people outside a convenience store that resembled them. At the same time, a citizen told authorities that the same individuals were trying to get someone to drive them to Kansas.
"We did know yesterday that they were in the Enid area," Clabes said. He said the suspects were not armed when they were taken into custody and that investigators are still trying to determine how they made their way to Enid, which is about 73 miles north of Yukon.
"There was a heightened concern that both murder suspects would be violent when faced with arrest," Clabes said. "Fortunately no one was injured and we are closer to bringing this tragic case to a conclusion."
The mood at the Sapulpa Police Department was "very somber" Monday as Pritchard's co-workers mourned the loss of a trusted officer, said Deputy Chief Mike Haefner.
"We are all still trying to wrap our heads around this," Haefner said. "We definitely feel the loss of any one of us."
Members of the community southwest of Tulsa also reacted to Pritchard's death by assembling floral bouquets around the flagpole in front of the police department, he said.
"The community is reaching out to us," Haefner said.
Pritchard had been with the Sapulpa Police Department for almost 19 years and supervised a patrol squad, Haefner said.
"He was the main guy over eight junior officers on a daily basis," he said.
Pritchard was also a defensive tactics instructor who taught at the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training academy for about 10 years, Haefner said.
"A lot of people know him," the deputy chief said.