Rebecca Bryan

Case overview

Rebecca Bryan was convicted of first-degree murder for fatally shooting her husband, Nichols Hills Fire Chief Keith Bryan, inside their Mustang home. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Rebecca Bryan maintained during sentencing that she was innocent and claimed an intruder killed her husband.

Timeline

• Sept. 20, 2011 — Keith Bryan was fatally shot inside the Bryans' Mustang home.
• Sept. 21, 2011 — Jurors heard a recording of an interview with police at the hospital a few hours after the shooting in which Rebecca Bryan said, “We were quite in love.”
• Sept. 23, 2011 — Rebecca Bryan was arrested in the shooting death of her husband in their Mustang home and appeared for an initial arraignment.
• Sept. 23, 2011 — The Mustang Police Department released recordings of two 911 calls placed by Rebecca Bryan after the shooting.
• May 11, 2013 — Evidence and testimony during the murder trial focused on affairs, calls, and meetings before Keith Bryan was slain.
• May 13, 2013 — Jurors listened to a recording of the hospital interview in which Rebecca Bryan said: “We were quite in love.”
• May 14, 2013 — Defense attorney Gary James questioned Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents about their handling of the search and evidence.
• May 21, 2013 — A jury found Rebecca Bryan guilty of first-degree murder and recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole.
• July 9, 2013 — Canadian County District Judge Gary E. Miller sentenced Rebecca Bryan to life in prison without the possibility of parole; he refused to suspend any of her prison time.

Background

Rebecca Bryan and Keith Bryan were married for 33 years. Keith Bryan was 52. Rebecca Bryan was 54 at the time of trial and sentencing.

Rebecca Bryan filed for divorce in January 2010, and the divorce was still pending after Keith Bryan’s death. The couple were living together in the house at the time of his death.

The offence

Keith Bryan was fatally shot inside their Mustang home. He was shot once in the side of the head and died at the hospital the next day.

Rebecca Bryan told police that an intruder entered the home and shot Keith Bryan. She told investigators the intruder apologized and said Keith Bryan should have hired him, and that the intruder fled in a pickup.

Prosecutors argued that Rebecca Bryan executed her husband without provocation, shooting him in the side of the head with her own pistol as he relaxed on a couch watching TV. The prosecutor said her only reason was “to free herself from the confines of her marriage,” and that Keith Bryan was killed because of her obsession with a former lover.

Investigation

Investigators turned their attention to Rebecca Bryan after a gun belonging to her was found in the dryer of their home, along with a spent shell casing, a glove, and a blanket with apparent bullet holes.

911 calls

Two recordings of 911 calls were released.

In her second call, Rebecca Bryan described Keith Bryan as “gasping for air” and “dripping” while he was dying.

Rebecca Bryan said: “He's dripping, he's like moving.” Rebecca Bryan said: “I've got to have somebody here.”

In the final seconds of the second call placed about 10:05 p.m., she described the shooter as a young man about 25 wearing a hooded sweatshirt who walked in through the garage door, shot her husband in the head, and apologized, saying the fire chief should have hired him.

Rebecca Bryan said: “He shot my husband in the head. My husband is laying here bleeding on my couch right now” and she said the shooter: “Ma'am, I'm so sorry,” and “But your husband should have hired me.”

Rebecca Bryan said: “He's in a little itty bitty pickup, OK? He's going down my street”

The call ends soon thereafter when she said she had to go as her husband gasped for air.

Keith Bryan died about 6 a.m. Wednesday at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

No suspects were named and no one had been arrested at the time officials described the investigation.

Search and evidence

Police asked for assistance from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation after Rebecca Bryan called 911 just after 10 p.m. and reported that an intruder came into their home and shot her husband once in the head.

Investigators described the evidence found in the dryer in a utility room:

• a Ruger .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol,
• a spent shell casing,
• a rubber glove,
• and a blanket with several round holes that appeared to be bullet holes.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents testified about the investigation:

• OSBI agent Martin Solorzano searched the home’s utility room and described the items falling when the blanket was pulled from the dryer.
• OSBI agent Shawn Wright found a gun box for a Ruger LCP .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol under the mattress on Rebecca Bryan’s side of the bed and found ammunition.

Wright testified the serial number on the gun matched the serial number on the gun box found under the mattress.

Investigators said the dryer was not in the pathway Rebecca Bryan repeatedly said the killer took as he entered and exited the home to dispose of items.

The gun matched the bullet used to shoot Keith Bryan, and the serial number was linked to the gun box under the mattress. A left-handed rubber glove with Rebecca Bryan’s DNA was also described.

Defense questions about the evidence

Defense attorney Gary James questioned Solorzano and Wright about the handling of the search and evidence. He asked why agents did not:

• change gloves, suggesting gunshot residue could have been transferred onto evidence by agents who handled items during the search;
• check fingerprints on the dryer where the gun was found;
• photograph the shell casing found in the dryer.

Wright said the shell casing should have been photographed and that “with the benefit of hindsight,” fingerprinting the dryer might have been a good idea.

James also asked about a report from a witness that a vehicle in the Mustang area resembled the one Rebecca Bryan said the intruder drove as he fled. James said the only way to exit the neighborhood was onto State Highway 152 and described the vehicle as driving erratically minutes after 10 p.m. Wright said he was not aware of the witness report until recently.

James asked why agents did not view security camera footage from nearby businesses. Wright could not answer.

Under cross examination, Wright said it was possible Rebecca Bryan could have had gunshot residue on her hands if she was sitting near where her husband was shot.

James also theorized during the trial that the shot could have been fired from an identical gun stolen from the home of the couple’s son a few months earlier.

Trial

Charges and plea

Rebecca Bryan was charged with first-degree murder. At arraignment, her attorney entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Gary James said: “They've got to prove we did it.” and he said: “You've probably seen 2 percent of the evidence in this case. Reserve judgment.”

Prosecutor Paul Hesse asked that Rebecca Bryan be held in the Canadian County jail without bail. Her attorney said he would file a bond request.

Jury verdict

A jury found Rebecca Bryan guilty of first-degree murder.

Jurors chose life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jurors deliberated for about four hours and returned the verdict.

Witness and evidentiary themes

Prosecutors and defense addressed inconsistencies between Rebecca Bryan’s intruder story and evidence found in the dryer and utility room.

Prosecutors argued an intruder would have brought his own tools and especially his own gun, and emphasized the evidence that was linked to Rebecca Bryan’s home items, including the pistol and associated items found in the dryer.

Prosecutors also presented evidence about Rebecca Bryan’s extramarital relationships and communications in the days leading up to the killing. Jurors heard testimony that she wanted to reunite with Mark Holbrook, of Hugo, and that she left voice messages and sent messages referencing a large inheritance and buying a home.

Rebecca Bryan did not testify at the trial. Jurors listened to a recording of her police interview at the hospital a few hours after the shooting.

Hospital interview

Jurors listened intently to a 35-minute recording of the hospital interview, which began about 1:30 a.m. Sept. 21, 2011.

Rebecca Bryan said: “He's like the most amazing husband.” and she said: “Everybody likes Keith.”

In the interview, she claimed: she and her husband were “very much in love.”

Rebecca Bryan said: “We were quite in love.”

At sentencing, the prosecutor later asked jurors: “Has there ever been a greater mischaracterization of a marriage than that?”

Statements quoted from trial impact evidence

In the victim impact statement, Trent Bryan wrote about emotional effects from the revelations of his mother’s affairs.

Trent Bryan wrote: “I have a hard time facing it most days,” and he wrote: “I am hopeful with time my dad will only be remembered for the man he was and not for the details behind his death.” Trent Bryan wrote: “I have struggled with knowing what the right thing to do is, and I have been pulled in many directions,” and he wrote: “I have wanted to protect my mom from hurt & suffering but at the same time I wanted justice for my dad & knew he deserved that.” Trent Bryan wrote: “My 5-year-old son Jackson frequently asks questions and I don't know how to respond or what to say to him. I don't want him to forget his Pappy but at the same time I want to avoid the question of where his grandma is and why she is there.”

Names and relationships described in trial testimony

• Keith Bryan was killed.
• Rebecca Bryan was the widow.
• Trent Bryan was one of Keith and Rebecca Bryan’s sons.
• Keith and Rebecca Bryan’s other son was Kent Bryan.
• Jackson was Trent Bryan’s 5-year-old son.

Rebecca Bryan’s former lover was Mark Holbrook, of Hugo. Holbrook testified that:

• Rebecca Bryan left a voice mail three hours before the shooting stating she still loved him,
• she expected to get a large inheritance soon,
• and she planned to buy a house so she could be near him.

Holbrook testified that:

• he and Rebecca Bryan had an affair that ended in January 2010,
• he continued to receive communication from her after the relationship ended,
• he had agreed with Keith Bryan to reconcile.

A real estate client identified as a man named Wesley Hubert testified about sex with Rebecca Bryan at his home in McLoud on the day of the shooting. Jurors heard that another testimony described Rebecca Bryan showing friends a cellphone photo of the man’s penis while traveling to see Keith Bryan after he was shot.

Another person, Karl Oltermann, testified about explicit text messages sent by Rebecca Bryan before the shooting, and Pamela Woodard testified about behavior described as surreal while reflecting on the case after testimony.

Rebecca Bryan also communicated with other individuals including a Tulsa real estate agent, Bill Whitestarber, who testified he received text messages and pictures showing nudity.

Rebecca Bryan’s defense included testimony by psychologist Kathy Thomas, who said her behavior was “bizarre” given the circumstances, and that “It seemed to be she wasn't that concerned about her husband.”

Evidence described during trial

Prosecutors and the court proceedings described specific items as key evidence:

• the Ruger .380 LCP pistol found in the dryer,
• a spent shell casing,
• a left-handed rubber glove,
• and a fire-themed throw blanket from the back of their couch with bullet-size holes.

Investigators described the gun box as being kept under the mattress on Rebecca Bryan’s side of the bed, and said the gun was matched to the bullet used to shoot Keith Bryan.

Sentencing

Court and sentence

On July 9, 2013, Canadian County District Judge Gary E. Miller sentenced Rebecca Bryan to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The judge refused to suspend any prison time.

Rebecca Bryan sat silently throughout a 35-minute sentencing and showed no emotion during the proceedings.

Her attorney, Gary James, said she maintained her innocence and claimed that an intruder killed her husband.

Gary James told the judge: “What she had said early on of an intruder who fired these shots is still her position,”
and he said: “She is an innocent woman.”

The judge said:

Canadian County District Judge Gary E. Miller said: “The tragedy won't end for the family,”
and he said: “I wish I could fix that. I can't.”

The prosecutor read out loud a statement from one of her two sons about how much he missed his dad.

Rebecca Bryan planned to appeal.

Outcome

Rebecca Bryan’s conviction for first-degree murder resulted in a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

After the sentencing, Terry Hamilton, identified as the current Nichols Hills fire chief, said he was glad the case was over.

Terry Hamilton said: “That's the main feeling,”
and he said: “It has really made us closer with a fire department,”
and he said: “The first three or four months were real difficult. They were hard to cope with and deal with, with a thousand things that we had to do, but we got through that.”

Other details

• Rebecca Bryan was described as a former real estate agent.
• The prosecution did not seek the death penalty.
• Evidence and testimony described the Bryans’ location as 1320 W Rose Hill Drive in Mustang.
• Rebecca Bryan told investigators she saw an intruder walk into the house from the garage.
• She told police she followed the intruder out through her garage door and saw him get into a small dark pickup.