Mayes County authorities consider housing murder suspect elsewhere

Friday, January 21st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PRYOR, Okla. (AP) -- The process to return a suspected triple killer to Oklahoma has begun, but officials worried about the condition of the Mayes County Jail are considering housing him elsewhere. Steven Ray Thacker could be extradited to Oklahoma within a week or so, Gene Haynes, district attorney for Mayes, Rogers and Craig counties, said Thursday.

Thacker, 29, is charged with fatally stabbing three people during a multi-state crime spree beginning with the abduction of Laci Dawn Hill, 25, from her Bixby home on Dec. 23, police said. She was found dead six days later in a remote Mayes County cabin. Thacker also is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of restaurant supervisor Forrest Reed Boyd, 24, who was found dead in his Aldrich, Mo., home on Jan. 1; and Ray Patterson, 52,discovered slain at his Dyersburg, Tenn., service station on Jan.2. "Anytime you handle an individual like that, there have to be some security issues brought up," Berry said.

Thacker is scheduled to be jailed in Pryor, Berry said. But, the sheriff noted, "Once the court has seen him and he has entered his plea, if there is going to be a time lapse before he is to appear in court again, then I may hold him at another facility." Jails in Tulsa and Ottawa counties are possible sites, although Berry said he has talked to no one other than Haynes about those options.

A new 100-bed, $3.2 million county jail in Pryor is scheduled for completion around March, Berry said. "If this case doesn't dissolve before then, I'll get to hold him in the new jail," the sheriff said. If Thacker fights extradition, a Tennessee court will reappoint Thomas Strawn or pick another attorney to represent Thacker, Strawn said. Thacker likely will be transported to Oklahoma via law enforcement aircraft, Berry said. Thacker remains in the Dyer County, Tenn., Jail in lieu of $5 million bail.