NORMAN - Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn said Wednesday he will seek the death penalty in a beheading case.
Mashburn said he met with the family of the beheading victim Wednesday morning. He said the relatives felt the death penalty was appropriate.
Alton Alexander Nolen
Alton Alexander Nolen, 30, was charged Tuesday. He asked a Cleveland County judge Wednesday afternoon to appoint him a Muslim lawyer, if possible.
Nolen is accused of beheading a co-worker and attempting to behead another at Vaughan Foods in Moore Sept. 25 after he was suspended for racial remarks.
In a video arraignment from the Cleveland County jail, Nolen, 30, wore an orange jail-issued jumpsuit and appeared healthy, as well as calm. Special Judge Michael Tupper read to him the formal charges against him - one count of first-degree murder, one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon.
Nolen is accused in the murder count of killing Colleen Hufford, 54, of Moore. He is accused in first assault count in the attack on Traci Johnson, 43, of Oklahoma City. He is accused in the second assault count of threatening Mark Vaughan, the food distribution company's chief operating officer.
Vaughan, a reserve Oklahoma County sheriff's deputy, shot Nolen to stop the attacks, authorities said.
Authorities said Nolen became angry after learning he was being suspended from his job at Vaughan Foods following a complaint made by a co-worker with the company's human resources department. The complaint was made by Johnson, who is white, following an apparent racial confrontation with Nolen.
After meeting with human resources officials, Nolen left the plant, went to his apartment to retrieve a large kitchen knife and then returned to the plant. Nolen told authorities he wanted to seek revenge on employees who had 'oppressed him.'
When asked by the judge Wednesday if he understood the charges, Nolen replied, 'I understand, but I would like to have my own copy to read.'
Tupper said a copy would be delivered to him in his jail cell. The judge also read Nolen his rights, before telling him he was going to appoint a public defender for him.
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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