The case of brothers Jeremy and Tyler Reece, who allegedly murdered Pawhuska oilman Rick Holt in September of 2015, will move forward on state charges.
Osage County Associate District Court Judge Stuart Tate set a preliminary hearing for March 23 at 9 a.m.
The state has charged Jeremy Reece, 31, and Tyler Reece, 19, with one count of first-degree murder each and conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping. Tyler Reece also faces an additional charge of desecrating a corpse. Authorities found Holt’s body partially burned and buried in a shallow grave on restricted Osage land near Hominy.
Tate has dismissed the state’s charges of first-degree murder and corpse desecration in a prior ruling. He believed the fatal gunshot happened on Osage land and not state land, which prompted the federal government to bring charges. Since the brothers are also members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the federal government has a case for jurisdiction. But, Osage County prosecutors say Holt was killed in his yard, which is not on restricted Osage land and that the brothers should face state charges.
The brothers are being held in the Osage County Jail.
The Osage Nation charged the brothers with first-degree homicide in May of last year after Osage County District Attorney Rex Duncan missed the deadline to appeal to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals after Tate ruled the case was federal.
According to Osage Nation Assistant Attorney General Jeff Jones, the Nation has put the case on hold until after the state rules on the case.
By
Osage News
Original Publish Date: 2017-01-19 00:00:00