Multiple Murder Trials Underway At Oklahoma County Courthouse

Jury selection started Monday morning for three separate Oklahoma County murder trials. 

Jurors will decide the fate of six people facing first and second-degree-murder charges.  

Hundreds of potential jurors filled Oklahoma County courtrooms. They sat across the room from defendants accused of shooting and beating deaths. 

Up first was former Tulsa dentist Bert Franklin. He is charged for the 2016 beating death of his mistress’s 19-month-old son. 

But it doesn’t end there, Franklin allegedly hired a hit on the baby’s mother. The murder plot never happened because the fellow jail inmates he enlisted were police informants. 

Read Related Story: Dentist Charged In Baby’s Death Also Being Tried In Murder-For-Hire Plot

In another courtroom, selected jurors will watch video of the 2016 robbery and shooting death of a Midwest City convenience store clerk. 

The charged gunman is Samuel Myers, 19. Police said Myers stole $200 and shot the clerk in the back.

Read Related Story: Friends, Family Remember Slain Store Clerk

Four men are on trial for the 2017 beating death of Maurice Pendleton. Investigators said the men beat Pendleton on an unsupervised basketball court in the Oklahoma County jail. 

Witnesses claimed the attack was gang-related. The men are charged with second-degree murder. 

Pendleton’s family has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the County Sheriff and commissioners. 

See: Family Files Wrongful Death Suit Against OK County Sheriff, Commisssioners

Jury selection will continue at the courthouse Tuesday morning.