Indictments unsealed in Holly Cantrell case
Oct. 19—The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office on Tuesday formally unsealed indictments filed against a man charged in the death of a McAlester woman who went missing in 2017.
Attorney General John O'Connor said in a Tuesday press release his office will prosecute a first-degree murder charge filed against Cody Ketchum, 36, in the 2017 murder of Holly Cantrell along with a misdemeanor charge of destroying evidence.
Ketchum is also accused of deleting text messages from his cell phone that were sent between himself and Cantrell.
"The multicounty grand jury is an invaluable resource the state depends on to assist law enforcement and prosecutors in complex cases like this," O'Connor said in the release.
Pittsburg County Jail records show Ketchum was being held on a $1 million bond.
The 19th Multicounty Grand Jury returned the two indictments Oct. 13 with the Pittsburg County Court Clerk receiving the documents Oct. 14 with an order to seal.
Pittsburg County Associate District Judge Tim Mills signed a warrant issued against Ketchum on Oct. 14. It was returned Oct. 17 after the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department arrested Ketchum.
Cantrell went missing in January 2017 when she left the McAlester Regional Health Center on her lunch break. Ketchum told investigators at the time that he picked up Cantrell from the hospital and dropped her off at the Braum's on U.S. Highway 69 in McAlester so she could eat with friends.
Cantrell never returned to work and was later reported missing by family when she did not return home.
Her purse was found a month later in February 2017 at the Cardinal Point Recreation Area about 11 miles north of McAlester.
Skeletal remains were found in the same area one year later before DNA testing performed at the University of North Texas identified the remains as Cantrell's in 2020.
The Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department opened the homicide investigation after the remains were found and identified as Cantrell's
Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris said investigators from his agency and the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office worked together on the investigation that was later presented to the 19th Multicounty Grand Jury impaneled in Oklahoma City.
The sheriff said evidence found on Ketchum's cell phone through execution of several search warrants led to the indictments.
"They sent some investigators down and they helped us a bunch as far as search warrants and really getting some key evidence," Morris told the News-Capital after Ketchum's arrest.
The indictment for destroying evidence states Ketchum "unlawfully and knowingly deleted text messages between himself and Holly Cantrell from his cellular device."
According to the indictment, Ketchum testified before the grand jury along with investigators from PCSO, the McAlester Police Department, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and Cantrell's family members.
Morris said the exact cause of Cantrell's death remains unknown.
Cantrell's family requested privacy.
The multi-county grand jury has jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed in any of Oklahoma's 77 counties, according to the OAG's office. Grand jurors serve for 18 months, hearing testimony two or three days each month at the Attorney General's office in Oklahoma City. Grand Jury proceedings are confidential and closed to the public.
Jurors have subpoena power to compel witnesses to appear and provide testimony under oath or produce documents and other evidence that is requested.
State law permits witnesses to tell the public their testimony if they choose too unless a judge rules otherwise.
Witnesses who appear before the grand jury can have a lawyer present to advise them, but the lawyer cannot object to grand jury questions or make arguments to the grand jury.
When a grand jury is impaneled, the AG's office presents evidence and questions witnesses. If the grand jury issues an indictment, the defendant is prosecuted in the district court where the indictment is filed.
Jurors are selected from jury lists statewide and are paid $20 per day, plus reimbursement for meals and mileage.
Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com
