Trial Set To Start In Lincoln County Murder Case

CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) -- The trial for a man charged with the first-degree murder of a Cleo Springs teenager likely will start Monday.<br/><br/>Jay Dale Davis, 21, of Tryon, is charged with the stabbing

Saturday, June 9th 2007, 8:33 pm

By: News On 6

CHANDLER, Okla. (AP) -- The trial for a man charged with the first-degree murder of a Cleo Springs teenager likely will start Monday.

Jay Dale Davis, 21, of Tryon, is charged with the stabbing death of 19-year-old Curtis Eugene Stanley of Cleo Springs. Stanley's body was found May 28, 2006 -- 14 days after he last was seen alive -- in a Lincoln County well four-tenths of a mile from the homes of Davis' father and grandmother.

Davis was living in Cherokee at the time. When authorities tried to interview him on May 20, 2006, he ran, according to court documents, but Davis was taken into custody and questioned the following day.

According to an affidavit prepared by Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Steve Neuman, Davis told investigators he had bought a Pontiac Firebird car from Stanley on May 13, 2006, for $1,500, but Davis could not produce the car's title.

The affidavit said that Davis told authorities he saw Stanley for the final time on May 13, when he drove Stanley to Enid, where Davis said he left him with another man.

That contradicted the story told by that other man, who said he met Stanley and Davis on May 14, according to the affidavit.