Tulsa Murderer Found Dead In His Prison Cell

A Tulsa man convicted in a 2003 homicide in Tulsa was found dead in his prison cell late Saturday night in McAlester.

The Oklahoma State Penitentiary warden assistant, Terry Crenshaw, says 26-year-old Sidney Beard was found unresponsive in his cell during the 10 p.m. count Saturday.

Beard was serving a life sentence for a December 2003 murder in Tulsa.  A jury convicted him in 2007.

Crenshaw says an initial investigation indicates Beard's death was the result of a suicide.  The investigation into his death continues.