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August 28, 2007

Hearing set in meth lab fire death

Press staff reports

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — STILWELL -- A Sept. 27 preliminary hearing is set for two men charged in Adair County with the death of a woman burned in an alleged methamphetamine lab fire.

Oscar Crosby Bartlett and Christopher Dempsey will appear before Associate District Judge Elizabeth Brown at 10 a.m. that day for a hearing. Both men are charged with second-degree murder and possession of material with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

Each count carries a possible life sentence.

The fire occurred in June at a Westville residence. Mandi Murray died in July from injuries she suffered in the fire.

Appearance bonds of $75,000 each have been set on Dempsey and Bartlett. Assistant District Attorney Shannon Otteson is prosecuting the case.

Several District 27 drug task force investigators, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents, Westville police officers and Cherokee Nation marshals are listed as state witnesses.

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