CIMARRON COUNTY, Okla. – Two men who pleaded no contest to murdering a 77-year-old Oklahoma man outside a convenience store will spend several years in prison for the crime.
In June 2013, 77-year-old Charles Nieman and his wife stopped at the Loaf-‘n-Jug convenience store in Boise City to get gas.
Authorities say Nieman was outside his vehicle when a man walked up to him and demanded his wallet.
Nieman, who investigators say was hard of hearing, turned to his wife and asked her what the man said. That is when the man shot Nieman in the head, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Nieman was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
For several years, investigators struggled to gain any ground in the case.
In February, officials with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced that Timothy Erish Dees and Zachery Lee Wilson were taken into custody in Alabama.
Days later, 33-year-old Jeremy Hugh Scott was arrested in Colorado for his alleged role in the crime.
OSBI officials say they were able to link the suspects to the murder after retesting a shell casing found at the scene.
“I’m very confident in the work they’ve put in and the supporting cast at the OSBI and other law enforcement agencies you’ve mentioned have led us to this point and I’m so thankful for that,” said District Attorney Mike Boring.
On Friday, officials announced that Wilson and Scott entered pleas of no contest to first-degree murder.
Wilson was sentenced to life in prison with all but 25 years suspended. Scott was sentenced to life in prison with all but 35 years suspended.
“It is a relief, like a weight is off your shoulders,” said Debbie Nieman Stroud, Charles Nieman’s daughter. “There is no closure, but with justice there can be resolution. They may have taken our father, grandfather and great-grandfather from us, but they can never take away our memories or our laughter.”
Timothy Dees currently has a court date scheduled for September.
