Suspect in connection with Kingfisher County quadruple homicide captured in Florida

Jessie Christopher Smith, Oklahoman
·5 min read
A law enforcement officer on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, enters a residence near Lacey, Oklahoma, in Kingfisher County, which was the scene of a quadruple homicide. State police in Oklahoma say that four people killed at a marijuana farm were "executed," and that they were Chinese citizens.
A law enforcement officer on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, enters a residence near Lacey, Oklahoma, in Kingfisher County, which was the scene of a quadruple homicide. State police in Oklahoma say that four people killed at a marijuana farm were "executed," and that they were Chinese citizens.

Investigators said a man wanted in connection with the execution-style killings of four people at a marijuana farm in Kingfisher County was in custody late Tuesday.

Officials with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said the Miami Beach Police Department in Florida arrested Wu Chen, 45, about 4 p.m. CST. Officers arrested Chen on an OSBI warrant after a vehicle tag reader flagged the vehicle he was driving, according to a statement from the bureau.

Police expected Chen would be booked into the Miami-Dade County jail on complaints of murder and shooting with the intent to kill. Officials said he is awaiting extradition to Oklahoma.

“This was a quick response and had multiple facets to it,” Kingfisher County Sheriff Dennis Banther said on social media late Tuesday. “I’m incredibly proud of being a part of an investigation where the suspect was not only identified, but arrested in less than 48 hours.”

The arrest came shortly after Oklahoma authorities shared a timeline of the quadruple homicide and announced the victims had been found executed.

Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation Capt. Stan Florence gives a press briefing Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, outside a residence near Lacey, Oklahoma, in Kingfisher County, which was the scene of a quadruple homicide. State police in Oklahoma say that four people killed at a marijuana farm were "executed," and that they were Chinese citizens.
Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation Capt. Stan Florence gives a press briefing Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, outside a residence near Lacey, Oklahoma, in Kingfisher County, which was the scene of a quadruple homicide. State police in Oklahoma say that four people killed at a marijuana farm were "executed," and that they were Chinese citizens.

About 5:45 p.m. CST Sunday, a gunman entered the location on N 2760 Road west of Hennessey, a town about 55 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. Several employees were inside the building, state investigators said, and the shooter was inside the building “for a significant amount of time” before the killings began.

Kingfisher County sheriff’s office deputies received reports of a hostage situation and a shooting at the site about 7:30 p.m. By the time deputies arrived, officials said they found three men and one woman, all of Chinese citizenship, executed. Another victim, who remains unidentified, was wounded and flown by helicopter to an Oklahoma City hospital.

'All 77 counties': Authorities say Oklahoma now a source state for black market cannabis

About 8:40 p.m., deputies requested the OSBI's assistance with the case, and law enforcement searched the 10-acre property Sunday night into Monday. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control also provided aerial support.

By Tuesday afternoon, multiple agencies were still searching for the alleged shooter and believed he was no longer in the area. Officials would not disclose the fifth victim’s condition on Tuesday, but said they believed all of the victims were familiar with the shooter and with one another.

“Based on the investigation thus far, this does not appear to be a random incident,” OSBI said in a mid-day news release on Tuesday.

Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation crime scene unit vehicle sits Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, at the scene near Lacey, Oklahoma, where four people were killed. State police in Oklahoma say that four people killed at a marijuana farm were "executed," and that they were Chinese citizens.
Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation crime scene unit vehicle sits Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, at the scene near Lacey, Oklahoma, where four people were killed. State police in Oklahoma say that four people killed at a marijuana farm were "executed," and that they were Chinese citizens.

State investigators thanked the other various agencies who assisted with the search and Chen's arrest, which also included the U.S. Marshals Western District Task Force, Oklahoma State Fire Marshal's Office and the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.

"The collaboration between agencies was critical in taking a violent murder suspect into custody," OSBI said in a statement late Tuesday.

The multi-state, multi-agency cooperation resulted in the second Florida arrest in as many months of an Oklahoma resident wanted in connection to high-profile killings. In October, a person of interest in the case of four men found shot and dismembered in an Okmulgee County river was arrested while driving a stolen vehicle in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida.

The deaths at the marijuana farm also were the third mass killing in Oklahoma in a little over a month. On Oct. 27, six children were killed in a suspected murder-suicide in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow, nearly two weeks after the four missing Okmulgee men's bodies were found in the river.

According to a database run by The Associated Press, Northeastern University and USA TODAY, the United States has now seen no fewer than 40 mass killings so far this year. In just the past week, six were killed in the break room of a Walmart store in Virginia and five were slain at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub. The database defines a mass killing as at least four people killed, not including the killer.

More:Oklahoma native, 'Master of Silly Business', among 5 dead in Colorado shooting

A Kingfisher County sheriff vehicle sits Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, at the scene near Lacey, Oklahoma, where four people were killed. State police in Oklahoma say that four people killed at a marijuana farm were "executed," and that they were Chinese citizens.
A Kingfisher County sheriff vehicle sits Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, at the scene near Lacey, Oklahoma, where four people were killed. State police in Oklahoma say that four people killed at a marijuana farm were "executed," and that they were Chinese citizens.

The Kingfisher County victims had not been identified publicly by Wednesday afternoon, and officials were still working to notify next of kin, police said.

Law enforcement agencies have targeted criminal growing and trafficking of marijuana for the black market in recent years. But Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma narcotics bureau, said it was too soon to say that was a focus of this investigation.

"It being a marijuana farm, obviously Oklahoma state law requires that they have a license from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority and from us," Woodward said Tuesday. "One of the things we're looking at is, is it obtained legally or was it obtained by fraud? So that'll be part of our investigation."

Porsha Riley, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, said there is an active license for a medical marijuana grow business at the location.

None of the 14 marijuana growing operations in the Hennessey area responded to requests for comment, according to The Associated Press, and officials would not identify which one operated at the site of the shootings.

"There's a lot to unravel with this case," OSBI Capt. Stan Florence said Monday. "It'll take a little time for us to process it."

Oklahoma voters legalized medical marijuana in 2018, and the industry quickly boomed thanks to an open-ended law that put in place fewer restrictions than in other states. In March, voters will decide whether to legalize recreational use of the drug.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Suspect in Hennessey quadruple homicide arrested Tuesday in Florida