Son of Oklahoma labor commissioner charged with murdering father

By Heide Brandes

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - The son of Oklahoma's state labor commissioner was charged on Monday with first-degree murder for the stabbing death of his father.

Christian Erin Costello, 26, of Oklahoma City is accused of stabbing his father, Mark Costello, multiple times with a knife at a northwest Oklahoma City fast food restaurant.

Costello and his son had agreed to meet on Aug. 23 to try to reconcile after an argument. The conversation at the restaurant grew heated and Christian Costello pulled a knife and started stabbing his father, Oklahoma City police said.

Mark Costello ran from the restaurant but was pursued by his son into the parking lot where he was stabbed multiple times as Costello’s wife attempted to stop the attack, police said. Costello was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The family previously said in a statement that Christian "has experienced many difficulties over the past several years" and "struggles with a mental health disease."

Mark Costello, 59, a Republican, was elected to run the state's Department of Labor in November 2010, according to a state website. He and his wife, Cathy, were married for 33 years.

(Reporting by Heide Brandes in Oklahoma City Editing by Ben Klayman and Eric Beech)