Slain Oklahoma City Woman's Father Speaks Out About Daughter's Death

The father of a slain Oklahoma City mom said the family is devastated by the homicide and they have no reason to believe her husband is the killer.

Friday, November 12th 2010, 6:57 pm

By: News 9


Rusty Surette, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The father of a slain Oklahoma City mom said the family is devastated by the homicide and they have no reason to believe her husband is the killer.

"It's been a tragedy for all of us," said Harvey Bryant. "Since we've lost our daughter, we've had a lot of support from family and friends."

Bryant's daughter, Julie Mitchell, was found beaten to death inside her Oklahoma City home the night of November 2. Police are still investigating the crime as a homicide and have not arrested anyone.

"Julie has one step-sister, one step-brother and one sister," said Bryant. "They're all devastated. They were all best friends. We're all trying to keep our feet on the ground."

Mitchell's one-year-old daughter was also inside the home at the time of her death, but was unharmed. Her husband, Teddy Mitchell, was out of town.

Teddy Mitchell is a well-known bookie and gambler. He's even featured in this book that details organized crime in Oklahoma. The book states long ago Teddy Mitchell tangled with financial troubles and substance abuse, but is now a loving father.

Police have not named him, or anyone at this point, a suspect, but last week Oklahoma City's police chief hinted that anonymous letters sent to the media somehow linked Julie's murder to Teddy's work.

"It's common knowledge that he was involved in book-making and things like that so the type of people he's associated with and dealt in many cases don't want to be known. It makes sense in a case like this where you do have a lot of contacts and people who are involved in illegal activity who don't want to be known to be involved in illegal activity," said Chief Bill Citty.

Still, Julie Mitchell's father said his son-in-law is innocent.

Bryant said Teddy Mitchell has been professional gambler all his life and it has nothing to do with it. He goes on to say the murder of his daughter is a deed done by someone they don't know and they're determined to find them.

News 9 contacted Teddy Mitchell on the phone to ask for his take on this, but he said he wasn't interested in speaking about it.

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