Nichols Hills Fire Chief Murdered in his Mustang Home

[PennyQuilts]

Did you guys see this awful story? According to newspaper reports, the wife was the only witness and she claimed a young white man in a hoodie came into the house, Tuesday night, and shot her husband. He told her he was sorry but the man should have given him a job, then left. The house was not otherwise disturbed or robbed. His name was Keith Bryan but Nichols Hills hasn't had job interviews in several years. Keith Bryant, however, is the fire chief in OKC and they just finished job interviews. Or so says the newspaper. Just awful. I feel so sorry for the family.

http://newsok.com/nichols-hills-fire...ad_story_title

[HewenttoJared]

Terrible.

[Thunder]

Wow, wrong guy murdered. :-(

[PennyQuilts]

Well, maybe, Thunder. Until they get it sorted out, that is just speculation, of course. I just hope they get to the bottom of it, soon. Poor man.

[BBatesokc]

Really terrible. Wonder how this will shake up. She filed for divorce in the past. My money says she did it or had it done. But, I don't know them so that could be a totally bad and in poor taste call. Just where my mind immediately went.

http://www.oscn.net/applications/osc...64&db=Canadian

[PennyQuilts]

Really terrible. Wonder how this will shake up. She filed for divorce in the past. My money says she did it or had it done. But, I don't know them so that could be a totally bad and in poor taste call. Just where my mind immediately went.

That was my first thought, too, Brian, but the coincidence on the names is striking. Either way, it is completely bizarre.

[Thunder]

It is possible either ways.

We have two persons with similar names, one with an extra letter.

The wife claimed the man commented about employment.

One district went through their interviews recently while the other did not.

1. The wife could have taken up on that opportunity to hire a hitman and attempt to do the perfect crime.
2. Unfortunate mistake on the man's part murdering the wrong person.

This will be very complicated if the guy were to be caught.

3. If it was actually #2 and the guy learned of his mistake, he could attempt to lie about the wife hiring him to receive a lesser charges/sentencing if caught.

[BBatesokc]

That was my first thought, too, Brian, but the coincidence on the names is striking. Either way, it is completely bizarre.

I agree. But how stupid would the killer have to be to give such a huge clue to his identity? Not that impulse killers are exactly criminal masterminds.

[Roadhawg]

My thoughts and prayers to the family... terrible thing to have happened.

[kevinpate]

DOC is chock full of folk, on both sides of the bars, who acted on a notion without any significant planning involved prior to the act, or after the act.

Can I buy a perp apologizing to a vic's spouse and explaining why he acted as he did? Easily. Does it mean this went down that way? No. Doesn't mean it didn't either.

I haven't followed the press on it closely throughout the day. Too much going on elsewhere. Of the early am talking head brigade on 9 that I did hear and see, one thing made me go "huh?" If I heard correctly, a family member of the deceased contacted a 9 talking head (Miller) and requested Miller come to talk to the spouse of the deceased. That was a somewhat different twist, liver viability or no. Beyond that 'huh' moment, sounded like a too typical oh what a damn shame incident.

[OKCTalker]

Keith Bryan’s memorial service will be held at 10 AM this Saturday, 09/24/2011, at the Bridge Assembly of God Church located at 1116 West Highway 152 in Mustang Oklahoma.
The arrangements are being made by McNeil’s Mustang Funeral Service. Their mailing address is PO Box 1616, Mustang Oklahoma, 73064. In lieu of flowers the family has requested donations be made to the Mustang Fire Department Equipment Fund which can be sent to the PO Box listed above.

There is a memorial fund set up in Keith’s name at BancFirst. Donations to the Keith Bryan Memorial fund may be dropped off at any BancFirst branch, or may be dropped off at the Nichols Hills Fire Department, Police Department, or City Hall.

[PennyQuilts]

Thank you, OKCTalker.

[ljbab728]

The local media played back his wife's 911 call today as a part of an update about this story. It was very disturbing. I know they have a legal right to do so but that must be difficult on his friends and family to have to hear that broadcast out to the public on television.

[BBatesokc]

I think some of us called it....... Chief's wife is being booked into the county jail right now.

[PennyQuilts]

She hid the gun in the dryer. The DRYER!!

[okcisok]

Desperate people do desperate things. Glowing words (and justified I'm sure) from people who knew him, but no one knows what happens behind closed doors. Sad, just very sad.

[FritterGirl]

I hate adding fuel to anything I would consider gossip mongering, and really didn't want to believe BBates' suspicions from yesterday, but after hearing the 9-1-1 tapes from last night, I did have to raise an eyebrow.

The first thirty seconds or so of the call weren't about her husband, who was bleeding out on the sofa, they were all about the supposed perp and the car he was driving.

I think I would have found that odd even if the seed of suspicion hadn't already been planted. If someone were to come in and shoot my husband, my first concern would be for him, NOT the person who allegedly did the deed. I'd talk to the police about that later, but call for an ambulance FIRST.

Brings up Brenda Andrews memories.

[PennyQuilts]

If she'd just said they had a fight and she killed him, she'd probably get manslaughter. As it is, she is likely to end up with a murder I charge. They found a glove in the dryer (and the casing). And she left the gun box under her mattress. And, of course, she relatively calmly gave a bizarre story on the 911 call. How horrible for the family. Their kids must be devastated.

[PennyQuilts]

I hate adding fuel to anything I would consider gossip mongering, and really didn't want to believe BBates' suspicions from yesterday, but after hearing the 9-1-1 tapes from last night, I did have to raise an eyebrow.

The first thirty seconds or so of the call weren't about her husband, who was bleeding out on the sofa, they were all about the supposed perp and the car he was driving.

I think I would have found that odd even if the seed of suspicion hadn't already been planted. If someone were to come in and shoot my husband, my first concern would be for him, NOT the person who allegedly did the deed. I'd talk to the police about that later, but call for an ambulance FIRST.

Brings up Brenda Andrews memories.

I had the exact same reaction. My husband and I were talking about that. She was married to a fire chief for ages so maybe that is why she didn't automatically say, "Someone broke in and shot my husband - get an ambulance!" but to give a somewhat rambling tale describing a kid driving up, describing what he looked like and then finally get around to mentioning that her husband had been shot and was bleeding out on the couch was weird. If I had been on the other end of the 911 call, I would have thought she was leading up to saying that some kid showed up and stole her birdbath or something. The dispatcher must have just about had a brain snap when the wife finally got around to mentioning that the kid shot her husband in the head.

[silvergrove]

What seemed unusual for me was when the article said that the cell phone went dead then she later called from the landline. Seems slightly inconvenient to go to the landline instead of keeping the handy cellphone out.

[OKCTalker]

I think some of us called it....... Chief's wife is being booked into the county jail right now.

Then you all are the winners. Congratulations.

[SSEiYah]

yeah the 911 call from yesterday on newsok was rather odd. I just read the article in the Gazette about how OK has more women in prison than any other state per capita. +1 for that statistic.

[Thunder]

Stay tuned for the next episode of Murder She Wrote.

[kevinpate]

She hid the gun in the dryer. The DRYER!!

A dryer is odd, but only a tad. It's possible she thought the tale of the apologetic slayer might be completely accepted. IF one holds that notion, it's not weird to then believe either the policia would never even take a gander at the other end of the house, where the dryer was located, or that the opportunity would arise to go back and get rid of the gun later.

[PennyQuilts]

yeah the 911 call from yesterday on newsok was rather odd. I just read the article in the Gazette about how OK has more women in prison than any other state per capita. +1 for that statistic.

My feeling on that is this: Back when I worked as a public defender, an extremely common - even typical - fact pattern was joint combat between him and her - with her often starting it. Far, far, far more often than not, he would take the blame to keep her out of jail, especially if kids were involved. I saw this even more with latinos or when they weren't married (and didn't have custody of children, including the woman's children with other men - they wouldn't want to see them go into fostercare). And then he'd have a record so the next time around, no one believed him (even when he didn't do anything). I hate to see people go to jail for a lot of things but IMO, a hell of a lot more women ought to serve time in these types of situations instead of treating them differently than men. I saw prosecutors regularly give special treatment to women who were thieves and mean as hell, in sharp contrast to how they would have treated a man. Moreover, that happened nearly every time a man and woman were both involved. Count on it - she would turn on him and take a plea while he sat in jail. And speaking as a mother, it makes my blood boil when people get all upset at these "poor mothers" and children separated because she is in jail. I managed to stay out of jail while raising my children and my suggestion is that if Mama cares about her children all that much, perhaps she should lay off the meth and avoid shoplifting. A mother, IMO, is a disgrace to become a criminal when children depend on her. A mother who doesn't care any more about her children than that doesn't deserve them.