Police Investigate 2 Unrelated Homicides In Tulsa In 24 Hours

New York law enforcement arrested a Tulsa murder suspect on an airplane, just moments after he landed in New York City Friday afternoon. 

Tulsa Police say Blake McDonell stabbed his boyfriend John Fender to death earlier this week and was fleeing to Paris.

"While he was midair, we were getting the warrant signed by a Tulsa judge,” said Captain Richard Meulenberg with Tulsa Police.

Police are also investigating another murder that happened Friday morning at a Tulsa dispensary near Pine and Peoria. TPD has identified the suspect as Michael Bell.

Related: Tulsa Police Identify Suspect In Connection To Deadly Dispensary Shooting

There hadn't been a homicide in Tulsa in more than a month, now police are investigating two in 24 hours. Police were able to arrest one suspect, McDonell, after investigators tracked his phone and saw he was in the Dallas airport Friday morning to catch a flight to flee the country.

Police say they found John Fender stabbed to death in his home near 4th and Harvard Thursday afternoon. Fender’s family members told police Fender was in a relationship with Blake McDonell, who was nowhere to be found.

"So, we are working the scene, and we had got information that he was trying to flee not only the city, but the country,” said Meulenberg.

Police say they tracked McDonell's phone and saw that went from Tulsa to Dallas, then was flying from Dallas to New York City today to catch a flight to Paris. New York law enforcement arrested McDonell as soon as his plane landed.

Police say they also learned the suspect went to a Tulsa dispensary Wednesday night and told the clerk he was going to stab and kill someone, and the clerk called 911. Hours later, McDonell called police saying his boyfriend tried to stab him, but McDonell got away and told police he was walking somewhere in southeastern Oklahoma and couldn't make a report.

"We know people are aware of the first 48 hours, and we have that program here, this truly was one of those cases where if we didn't move as fast as we did, this person could have easily fled the country,” said Meulenberg.

While police were investigating that case, they say a man was shot and killed at a dispensary near Pine and Peoria Friday morning. Police say a man associated with the dispensary got into a fight with a customer, Montrez Thomas, and pulled a gun, shot Thomas, then took off.

"Here's another situation where you have this escalation of emotions, we don't know what happened, but it was clearly avoidable. People clearly have some beef with one another and could not get that worked out in some civil manner,” said Meulenberg.

Police are still looking for the shooter from the dispensary.

As for McDonell, police say he will be booked in New York jail, then extradited back to Tulsa at a later date.