Mustang, OK: Fire chief's wife arrested in husband's death

MUSTANG, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma woman who frantically told police in a 911 call that a hooded intruder gunned down her husband was herself arrested in his shooting death, authorities said Friday.

Rebecca Louise Bryan, 52, was booked into the Canadian County Jail on a first-degree murder complaint in connection with Tuesday's shooting death of Nichols Hills Fire Chief Keith Bryan at the couple's home in Mustang, said Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. She was arrested about 12:20 p.m. Friday at a south Oklahoma City hotel.

Formal charges have not been filed.

"At this point, we believe we have the person who killed Keith Bryan," Brown said.

Rebecca Bryan called police Tuesday night and said a young man wearing a hooded sweatshirt "walked into our living room and he shot my husband in the head," according to audio of the 911 call released by police.

Keith Bryan was taken to an Oklahoma City hospital, where he died Wednesday morning.

On the call, Rebecca Bryan told police the intruder apologized for the shooting and added: "Your husband should have hired me."

But a search of the Bryan's home uncovered a handgun in a dryer that Brown said police linked to a slug taken from a couch where Keith Bryan's body was located. The utility room where the dryer was located was not near the garage door entrance where Rebecca Bryan told police the intruder entered the home, Brown said.

Police also discovered a box for the handgun under the couple's mattress, Brown said.

Brown did not discuss a possible motive. Court records show Rebecca Bryan filed for divorce from her husband in January 2010, citing irreconcilable incompatibility, but there had been no further action taken in the case. The couple had two adult sons, Brown said.

Canadian County jail officials said there is no record of an attorney being assigned to the case. A telephone message left with Rebecca Bryan's attorney in the divorce case was not immediately returned.

Mustang, with a population of nearly 18,500, is surrounded by southwestern Oklahoma City.