SEMINOLE COUNTY, Okla. – Two men have been arrested for the kidnapping and murder of a woman.
On April 17, officials said 27-year-old Matthew Onesimo Armstrong and 30-year-old Nicholas Earl Faulkner tied Nichole Owl to a tree in Seminole County after they believed she had stolen drugs and money from Armstrong.
“One of the two, either Faulkner or Armstrong, believed it was an old Indian custom,” said Jessica Brown with the OSBI. “If you could not remember where you placed something, then you were to be tied to a tree and that would help you to remember.”
The men allegedly left Owl in the woods for several hours and later returned.
When Owl could not tell Armstrong where she hid the stolen items, he allegedly shot her several times.
Once she was dead, investigators said Armstrong and Faulkner returned to the scene with a woman and buried Owl’s body.
Allegedly, the men poured concrete over her body before burying it.
“They knew the rain was coming,” Brown said. “They were afraid, if they dug a hole and put the body in there, that it would float to the top.”
A witness reported the crime to investigators the next day.
OSBI agents and archaeologists excavated Owl’s body.
Agents with the OSBI arrested Armstrong and Faulkner at Armstrong’s home in Wewoka.
Armstrong’s father, Jimmy Armstrong, was also arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Armstrong and Faulkner were arrested on complaints of first-degree murder and kidnapping.
