Today, a man was convicted of three counts of murder in
Indian country after a week-long jury trial, announced Assistant Attorney
General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and
U.S. Attorney Mark F. Green of the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
David Brian Magnan, 53, was convicted in the shooting deaths
of three victims, James Howard, Karen Wolf and Lucilla McGirt, who were all
members of the Seminole Nation. U.S.
District Court Judge Ronald A. White of the Eastern District of Oklahoma
presided over the trial.
The evidence presented at trial established that the victims
were celebrating a birthday on the evening of March 1, 2004, at Howard’s
home. In the early morning hours of
March 2, 2004, Magnan arrived at the home with two other men. Armed with a pistol, Magnan confronted an
individual outside of the house and a fight ensued, after which Magnan shot the
individual in the abdomen. Magnan then
entered the home where he found the three victims asleep. He first confronted Howard, who he shot
multiple times in the chest as he lay in bed.
Magnan then moved to a bedroom where he found McGirt and Wolf
sleeping. Magnan shot Wolf in the head
and shot McGirt in the shoulder and head.
McGirt survived that evening and identified Magnan as the shooter, but
she ultimately succumbed to her wounds and died two weeks later. Following the shootings, Magnan and the two
other men fled the scene and hid the murder weapon, which police subsequently
recovered.
This case was investigated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of
Investigation, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, the Seminole Nation
Lighthorse Police and the FBI. The case
is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Mike Sheckels of the Criminal Division’s
Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney
Edward Snow of the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Trial Attorney Richard Friedman of the
Criminal Division’s Appellate Section handled an interlocutory appeal.
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