Suspect Arrested In 2015 Sapulpa Homicide Case

Sapulpa Police said they are thrilled to finally have an arrest in a five-year-old cold case homicide. The suspect, Damon Caldwell, had been on the run since 2015.

Police said Caldwell shot and killed Michael Norwood at the Rest Inn Motel in 2015, then they said he carjacked a guy behind the building and disappeared. The hotel manager said he was here when the shooting happened and couldn't believe it when he learned Caldwell is now in jail.

U.S. Marshalls arrested Caldwell in Midwest City. They said he’d been hiding out using a different name. Caldwell had gotten out of prison just two months before the shooting at the motel in 2015.

"We knew based off of photo lineups of him, witnesses that were there that watched the whole thing happen, so we knew who our suspect was, it was just a matter of trying to get him captured,” said Lieutenant Troy Foreman with Sapulpa Police. 

The motel manager said the victim was a local handyman and everyone in the area knew him. He said he went to Norwood's funeral and always hoped, one day, Caldwell would be arrested.

"Normally you expect it in a couple weeks, couple days, maybe a month or so, but five years down the road, he's been on the run for five years,” said Foreman.

Seven months after the homicide, Marshalls said Caldwell fired several shots at a friend over a dog in El Reno, then led police on a chase. Marshals said they got a tip Caldwell was using the Universal Aryan Brotherhood to avoid capture. Marshalls said Caldwell was armed with two guns when they arrested him.

"I can't thank the guys enough that are on this task force, the U.S. Marshalls that spent day in and day out tracking leads down of this guy and whatever means they had to do to set up on him, especially someone who is dangerous like this,” said Foreman.

Police said Caldwell is still in jail in Oklahoma City, but will be brought back to face his charges.