Ex-Oklahoma Officer Is Sentenced in Killing of Daughter’s Boyfriend

A erstwhile constabulary serviceman successful Tulsa, Okla., was sentenced connected Friday to 25 years successful situation for the 2014 sidesplitting of his daughter’s fellow aft a assemblage recovered him blameworthy of second-degree execution successful his 5th proceedings successful the case.

Shannon Kepler, 60, was a 24-year seasoned of the Tulsa Police Department erstwhile helium changeable and killed Jeremey Lake, 19, extracurricular Mr. Lake’s location adjacent downtown Tulsa successful August 2014, national prosecutors said. Mr. Kepler tracked Mr. Lake down aft moving his sanction done a instrumentality enforcement database, the authorities said.

At the petition of Mr. Lake’s family, Judge Gregory Frizzell of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma besides ordered Mr. Kepler to wage the outgo of a headstone for Mr. Lake.

Mr. Kepler’s lawyer, Stan Monroe, did not instantly respond to an email and telephone calls seeking remark connected Sunday.

Clint Johnson, the U.S. lawyer for the Northern District of Oklahoma, said successful a statement that Mr. Kepler had “sworn to uphold the instrumentality but alternatively made a bid of decisions that led to the young man’s murder.”

He added that Judge Frizzell’s determination provided “a measurement of justness to Mr. Lake’s family, though I cognize their healing continues.”

Mr. Kepler’s archetypal 3 trials ended with the assemblage deadlocking connected the execution charge, though the archetypal assemblage recovered him blameworthy of 2 counts of reckless behaviour with a firearm. In the 4th trial, successful October 2017, a assemblage convicted Mr. Kepler of first-degree manslaughter, but helium appealed that condemnation connected jurisdictional grounds, arguing that helium should person been tried successful national court.

A week earlier Mr. Lake was killed, Mr. Kepler and his woman had been having “a hard clip with their adopted daughter, Lisa,” who had conscionable turned 18, the U.S. attorney’s bureau said successful a statement.

That behavior, which the authorities did not picture successful detail, continued, and the Keplers dropped disconnected their girl astatine a stateless structure with nary other clothes, wealth oregon a cellphone, prosecutors said.

Mr. Kepler aboriginal learned from his daughter’s Facebook illustration that she was “in a relationship” with Mr. Lake, prosecutors said.

The narration “alarmed” Mr. Kepler, prosecutors said, and astatine work, helium asked a records clerk to “run a search” connected Mr. Lake’s history.

The hunt turned up records showing that Mr. Lake had been a “victim of kid maltreatment astatine a precise young property and was antecedently charged arsenic a juvenile aft pushing a societal services worker,” prosecutors said. The charges did not effect successful a conviction, they said.

Mr. Kepler past wrote down Mr. Lake’s address, changed his apparel and acceptable retired for Mr. Lake’s location aft nightfall successful his wife’s S.U.V. equipped with a .357 magnum revolver, prosecutors said. Mr. Kepler would aboriginal attest that helium knew the revolver would not permission ammunition casings astatine the scene, prosecutors said.

At astir 9 p.m., helium arrived astatine the location and saw his girl with Mr. Lake. Mr. Kepler’s girl would not speech to him, and she started walking toward the house, prosecutors said.

Mr. Lake was lasting successful the street, prosecutors said, erstwhile Mr. Kepler pulled retired his revolver and changeable him doubly successful the chest, sidesplitting him instantly. Prosecutors said helium past turned and fired astatine slightest 3 rounds successful the absorption of the witnesses: his daughter, a person of Mr. Lake’s and Mr. Lake’s younger brother.

Mr. Kepler past fled successful the S.U.V., which helium abandoned astatine a Motel 6 earlier turning himself in.

He aboriginal testified that Mr. Lake had “got the leap connected him” and pulled a semiautomatic pistol from his pants pocket, but prosecutors said that forensic grounds had determined that the weapon was from an unrelated incident.