Witness: Suspect Admitted To Killing Tulsa Businessman

Lori Fullbright, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- A former five star general with the 57th street Hoover Crips was a key witness in Wednesday's hearing in the Neal Sweeney murder case.

Dolan Prejean says he quit the gang and turned his life to God, so that's why he contacted the District Attorney when he learned in jail who was involved in the murder for hire plot.

10/26/2010 Related Story: No Jail Time For Tulsa Man Accused In Murder For Hire Case

Prejean said Terrico Bethel talked to him in the jail and admitted shooting Neal Sweeney once in the head in the fall of 2008 and said he was paid $5,000 for his part. Prejean says Bethel told him details of the crime, including how he knew his target and what the murder weapon was.

When Prejean contacted the DA and police, they didn't seem to believe him, so Prejean offered to wear a wire back into the jail and get Bethel on tape, which he did.

The four defense attorneys for the four suspects all pointed out Prejean's many felony convictions in Oklahoma and Louisiana. They accused him of coming forward because he wants a better deal on his current cases as well as the $25,000 that was available in this case.

This is one of the most complex murder cases ever in Tulsa County with recorded phone calls and more than 5,000 pages of documents.

You add to that, defense attorneys, everything takes longer: four people to cross examine every witness and four people objecting.

During all this maneuvering over evidence and making sure the four suspects get the best defense possible, the victim in all this, a man who was beloved by his family and community, gets lost in it all.

While killers were driving by Neal Sweeney's home, taking his picture, staking out his business and stalking him like prey, he had no idea. And, his family has to listen to it all.

It's been two years since the murder and the trial is nowhere near getting underway. While most families only have to endure one trial, Sweeney's family will likely have to sit through four of them.