Prosecutor to seek execution in beheading

Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla.

An Oklahoma prosecutor said Wednesday he will seek the execution of a man accused of beheading a co-worker in a fit of rage after being suspended from his job at a food-processing plant.

Alton Nolen, 30, was ordered held without bond during a video arraignment Wednesday from the Cleveland County jail. He’s been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Colleen Hufford, 54, and with two counts of assault. Prosecutors said Nolen was stabbing a second employee when he was shot by a plant manager who stopped the attack last Thursday at the Vaughan Foods plant in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore.

After Nolen’s arraignment, Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn told The Associated Press he made the decision to seek the death penalty after meeting with the victim’s family.

“Even though it was my ultimate decision, I wanted to talk to them about it so that they understood what all that entails,” Mashburn said. “After talking to them, my staff and I sat down, and we’ve decided to seek the death penalty.”

Mashburn said he could file the necessary paperwork as early as this week.

During Nolen’s video arraignment, Nolen asked Judge Michael Tupper if he could be represented by a Muslim attorney.

“I’m Muslim,” Nolen told the judge. “Do you have any Muslims who might represent me?”

The judge responded: “We’ll see. I don’t know the answer to that question.”

Nolen’s family has said he recently converted to Islam, and officials at an Oklahoma City mosque said he was a frequent worshipper there in recent months.

Nolen, flanked by two uniformed jailers, listened quietly as the judge read the charging documents that included a description of the attack on Hufford and the second co-worker, 43-year-old Traci Johnson.