Police: Son confessed to killing Okla. family

DUNCAN, Okla. - Three people found dead in an Oklahoma home have been tentatively identified by police as a newspaper publisher, his wife and daughter and, authorities tell 48 Hours' Crimesider, the couple's 19-year-old son confessed to killing them.

Duncan Police Chief Danny Ford said Alan Hruby confessed to killing his parents - John and Tinker Hruby - and his sister, Katherine. The State's Attorney is expected to announce formal charges Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Associated Press, Ford said the family's housekeeper found the bodies Monday and called police. Autopsies for the three are pending, but investigators reportedly believe they were shot to death.

CBS affiliate KWTV reports within hours after discovering the bodies, Alan Hruby was taken into custody on a charge unrelated to the deaths of his family members.

Last year, according to the station, John Hruby turned his son Alan in to police for allegedly using his grandmother's credit card and charging nearly $5,000 during a trip to Europe. Alan Hruby was on probation at the time of his family members' deaths and is a freshman at Oklahoma University.

John Hruby was the publisher of The Marlow Review, a weekly newspaper with a circulation of about 3,500, where his wife also worked. The paper, on its website, posted an entry Monday asking readers to "please pray with us."

"At this time The Marlow Review asks the general public for prayers following the tragic deaths of John Hruby, our publisher, his wife, Tinker, and their daughter Katherine. Our staff endeavors to continue to serve Marlow to the best of our ability going forward," the statement read.

Hruby was also publisher of The Duncan Banner until 1997, when his family sold the newspaper, and was vice president of the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation Board of Trustees, a part of the Oklahoma Press Association.

Mark Thomas, the executive vice president of the association, remembered the Hrubys as committed to journalism and to the town.

"They were fun. They enjoyed life. They were firm, yet fair, and we have not come to grips with the fact that we just won't see their smiling faces at our next meeting. It's really devastating to the newspaper people in Oklahoma," Thomas said.

Todd Brooks, the news and sports editor at the newspaper, said Tuesday the staff was still in shock.

"It was surreal yesterday. It was kind of walking around in a zombie-like state. We consider ourselves a family paper. We had six full-time employees here. Now there are four of us."