Trial continued in Holly Cantrell murder case
Sep. 28—A trial scheduled to begin next week in a murder case that has received national interest was continued after defense attorneys said they needed more time to comb through evidence that was handed over at the last minute.
Cody Ketchum, 37, was indicted by a multi-county grand jury in October 2022 with first-degree murder and a misdemeanor charge of destroying evidence in the death of Holly Cantrell — the McAlester woman who disappeared in January 2017 before her skeletal remains were discovered and later identified in 2020.
Ketchum's defense filed a motion to continue on Monday, stating prosecutors handed over two new batches of discovery on Sept. 11 and 18, totaling more than 4,400 pages, 937 spreadsheets and new photos. It also contained Ketchum's original phone records.
"The state has made clear that these phone records are a crucial element of their case against Cody Ketchum," Brecken Wagner, Ketchum's attorney wrote.
Wagner said the motion to continue was made on what his team has been able to review and there is a possibility new information could be found that warrants an investigation by the defense.
Heather Anderson, assistant attorney general, argued the defense was already in possession of the evidence since March, despite admitting she does not having a signed acknowledgement form. Anderson wrote the state provided the evidence again with an explanation it was previously provided in September with a new form to confirm receipt "out of an abundance of caution."
"The issue is not when the state provided its discovery," Anderson wrote. "The issue is when counsel decided to either review it himself or provide it to his investigators."
District 18 Associate District Judge Tim Mills granted Tuesday the motion to continue and placed the trial on the March 2024 trial docket.
Cantrell was 40 when she was reported missing Jan. 20, 2017 after video showed she left her job at McAlester Regional Health Center during a lunch break at 11:56 a.m. that day. Hospital security video showed Cantrell wearing green nursing scrubs when she left and got into a green, short wheelbase truck, police said.
Police said the last reported sighting of Cantrell was at 12:20 p.m. that day at Braum's Restaurant at 625 S. George Nigh Expressway.
Cantrell's disappearance was featured on the Investigation Discovery channel and several other national and state media outlets.
The Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department opened a homicide investigation after remains were found in February 2018 on a secluded peninsula in the Cardinal Point Recreation Area in northern Pittsburg County. The remains were later sent for DNA testing at the University of North Texas that confirmed in 2020 the remains were of Cantrell.
Ketchum remains in the Pittsburg County Jail on a $250,000 bond.
