Murder charges filed against a Tulsa man stemming from last Friday's double homicide

Prosecutors filed two murder charges Tuesday in connection with last Friday's double homicide at a north Tulsa hardware store. Now, Tulsa Police just need to find their prime suspect, Leroy Smith.

Tuesday, April 19th 2005, 11:02 am

By: News On 6

Prosecutors filed two murder charges Tuesday in connection with last Friday's double homicide at a north Tulsa hardware store. Now, Tulsa Police just need to find their prime suspect, Leroy Smith.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright went to the Tulsa County courthouse and uncovered documents that show what led police to Smith in the first place.

Police put Leroy Smith's name and charges into the national crime information system so if he gets pulled over anywhere in the country, he'll be arrested and brought back to Tulsa. Detectives want to get him into custody as soon as possible. Tulsa Police Sgt Mike Huff: "He's been saying he won't be taken alive and he'll commit suicide before he's arrested so not only is it an officer safety issue, it's also a concern for the public."

An affidavit says the woman who worked at the hardware store positively identified Smith as the man who walked in Friday morning and shot store owner Zach Jones and employee Eddie Phenix. It also says Smith told an acquaintance 45 minutes after the murders, that both men were dead, well before it was ever released to the public. It says Smith's own wife told police when she drove him to Dallas over the weekend for a church trip; Smith told her he was involved in Zach's death. And, it says Zach's wife told police her husband was set to meet Smith Friday at 10 AM to close a real estate deal.

Records show Tulsa Police went to Smith's home and recovered the blue jogging pants Smith wore Friday morning, pants that match the description given by witnesses. Police say it's not that uncommon for people to talk about their crimes. "You think you'd never open your mouth, but, when you're involved in such a critical incident, you want to talk about it because it's such an unusual event, but, it's not something we think is extraordinary because we see it quite a lot."

The court records show Smith currently faces a bogus check charge as well as stalking, assault and battery and violation of a protective order charges in an unrelated matter.