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MMA Fighter Recaptured After Escape From Prison Van Said He Had 'Nothing To Do With' Double Murder

February 8, 2019 / 3:18 PM CST / CBS Texas

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Texas Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty Against MMA Fighter Cedric Marks For Double Murder

CONROE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The MMA fighter facing murder charges who was recaptured after escaping from a prison van said he had "nothing to do with" two bodies found in a shallow grave in Oklahoma last month.

Cedric Marks told Houston TV station KPRC during a Thursday video call from a Texas jail that he's not guilty of killing Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingin.

44-year-old MMA fighter Cedric Marks, is being held on murder charges in the deaths, which he has denied. (credit: Bell County Jail)

Marks said police "coerced" a witness against him and that he "was not trying to escape" Sunday when he somehow freed himself from the van outside a McDonald's near Houston.

Police recaptured the 44-year-old middleweight fighter after about nine hours. He declined to say how he escaped and authorities have released no details.

Marks is being held on charges including capital murder on more than $1.75 million bond.

The friends Scott and Swearingin went missing January 4. Their bodies were recovered January 16 in Okfuskee County, about 75 miles east of Oklahoma City.

Michael Swearingin and Jenna Scott (credit: Texas Department of Public Safety)