Grand Jury Reaffirms Wynnewood Man's Death as Suicide

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

PAULS VALLEY, Oklahoma -- A Garvin County Grand Jury has disbanded without returning indictments in the death of Wynnewood resident Tom Horton. Instead the panel reaffirmed the original finding of the medical examiner that Horton's death was a suicide.

Last summer Horton's family and friends started a petition drive to call a Grand Jury to look into the death, which they believed to be a homicide.

Shannon Kile, one of the petition sponsors, said he does not believe justice was served in Garvin County.

"There was no actual investigation done. Other evidence was uncovered. They didn't uncover every stone. In fact, they blocked some of our evidence. They didn't look at everything. They didn't even look at half of everything," Kile said.

But the prosecutor who oversaw the Grand Jury said it performed its duties conscientiously, including taking testimony from 46 witnesses.

"I can't obviously reveal the details of their testimony, but it was an extensive, hard-working grand jury," said Assistant District Attorney George Burnett.

The Grand Jury found that most of the information suggesting a homicide was "speculation and guesswork" and recommended that an OSBI investigator be called in on every violent death in the future.

"The family is crushed. They're exhausted. Other petitioners are just devastated. People in Wynnewood are devastated," Kile said.

The Grand Jury did issue a sealed indictment, which will be opened Tuesday, but it is believed to have no connection to Horton's death. That indictment will be unsealed in Pauls Valley Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

More on News9.com:
- Petition Effort Renewed for Investigation into Wynnewood Man's Death
- Petition Denied for Grand Jury Investigation into Wynnewood Man's Death
- Dead Man's Friends, Family Provide Petition for Investigation
- Man's Death Ruled Suicide, Friends, Family Say Homicide