A split decision in the trial of a man charged with murdering his father and a friend had some observers scratching their heads Thursday evening.

After nine hours of deliberation, the eight-woman, four-man jury found Christopher Jason Hathcoat, 40, innocent in the slaying of his father, Floyd Hathcoat, 73, but guilty of first degree murder in the killing of Terry Alan Wetselline, 42.

Associate District Judge James Pratt followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Hathcoat to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

According to state guidelines, life in prison is considered to be 45 years. Hathcoat will not be eligible for parole consideration for 38 years.

“I am pleased with the verdict as it relates to Wetselline, but I am somewhat confused by the verdict in the murder of his father,” Assistant District Attorney David Pierce said following the sentencing. “It was a perplexing verdict. I will interview the jurors to find out what they were thinking.”

Chief Deputy Dewayne Hall was also taken aback.

“I don’t understand it,” he said. “He was the only one who could have killed them.”

The two men were killed in the early morning hours of Aug. 4, 2016 on Tiger Mountain in northwest McIntosh County, both shot to death.

Forensic witnesses said the elder Hathcoat was shot through the corner of the right eye by a high-powered rifle. The bullet from the rifle exited the left side of the head and blew out his brains.

Witnesses said Wetselline also was shot by a high powered rifle. They said the bullet from the rifle entered and exited the right side of his neck below the ear with such force that it internally decapitated him.

The forensic experts said the head was detached from the spinal column by the force of the shot, but the head did not separate from the body.

The bodies of the two men were found the next day, the same day Christopher Hathcoat was arrested in Cherokee County driving his father’s truck.

The murder weapon was inside the truck.

Hathcoat’s defense attorneys attempted to throw doubt on the defendant’s guilt by alleging that David White, who once was engaged to Hathcoat’s sister, had been the killer.

However, Pratt instructed the jury prior to deliberation that they were not to consider White as a suspect. He noted that nothing had been shown during the course of the trial to tie him to being at the scene of the crime.

Pierce pointed out that there was evidence of three people in Floyd Hathcoat’s isolated residence on Tiger Mountain when the double homicide took place – Floyd Hathcoat, Terry Wetselline and Christopher Hathcoat.

Hathcoat took the stand in his own defense on Wednesday, Aug. 15, the final day of testimony.

He was one of only two defense witnesses. The second was Oklahoma City Police officer Everett Baxter, a crime scene investigator who has a side-business as a consultant.

Baxter, using crime scene evidence collected by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, recreated the crime scene for the jury as defense attorneys tried and failed to introduce evidence that someone other than their client was at the scene and possibly committed the murders.

Hathcoat was the final person to take the stand in the 2½ day trial. He began his testimony by saying he came from a dysfunctional family and that he had spent much of his adult life in prison, once on a conviction of robbery by force and fear and another time on a charge of kidnapping.

He also admitted to heavy use of drugs and alcohol.

A day before Hathcoat testified, his sister Amanda took the stand and tearfully testified against her brother.

She said the day of the killing, her brother showed up at her home in Tahlequah driving their father’s truck and wearing a plaid shirt/jacket buttoned up to the neck on a hot day.

She said Hathcoat showed her a pistol and wanted to see her boyfriend, David White.

She told him White wasn’t there.

Hathcoat left and Amanda became concerned about her father but couldn’t reach him by phone. She asked an aunt to call him, but the aunt couldn’t reach him either. The next day a neighbor of Floyd Hathcoat’s was contacted and went to the house, where he found the bodies.

Christopher Hathcoat recounted his version of what happened.

He said that on Aug. 4, he, his father and Wetselline, were sitting around drinking beer.

Hathcoat said in addition to drinking, he took two oxycodone pills.

“My back was hurting real bad,” he said.

At some point, according to Hathcoat, a pickup truck driven by David White pulled up at the front of the house.

Hathcoat said he went to the truck, got inside the cab with White and soon passed out from the alcohol and drugs.

He awoke sometime later, he said, but White wasn’t in the truck.

Hathcoat said he went to the house and when he entered saw White and Wetselline holding onto a rifle.

He said his mind was a little foggy.

“I was pretty intoxicated,” he said.

According to Hathcoat, Wetselline was yelling at him to call the police.

But, Hathcoat said, because of his years in prison he was afraid of calling the police.

“I remember realizing something bad was wrong and I told Terry to quit or I would beat his a… I hit him once, then a few more times. David had hold of the gun.”

Hathcoat said he told Wetselline to sit on the couch.

“I gave him some paper towels to stop the blood,” Hathcoat said.

He said that White was standing behind his father’s seat.

“I realized David had shot dad,” Hathcoat said.

He said he sat down on the couch and looked at his father.

“I told Terry to go wash himself off and David follows him (into the kitchen) and I hear the boom. I ran in and grabbed the rifle and told him to get out, and he did.”

He said he panicked and took a stash of money his father kept hidden in the wash room, about $2,300.

He said he put on a plaid shirt/jacket, even though it was summer, because he didn’t know where he was going and might need it.

Hathcoat said he left and drove his father’s pickup to Cowboys, a bar and grill just off I-40 about 10 miles east of Henryetta, where he bought two beers and told the bartender, Toni Gilreath, that he had been slaughtering hogs all morning.

“I couldn’t wait to get the two beers and get out of there. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have no plan,” Hathcoat said.

He drove to Tahlequah.

“The first place I went to was my sister’s, but she wasn’t home,” he said.

Hathcoat contradicted his sister’s earlier testimony. She said she was home and described what he was driving and what he was wearing and a 9 mm pistol he showed her.

The defendant said he didn’t show her a gun.

When asked under cross-examination how the sister could describe how he was dressed if she wasn’t home to see him.

“I guess she’s psychic,” Hathcoat said.

He also said she lied during her testimony.

Hathcoat denied shooting anyone.

“I never said I was going to Canada or New Mexico. I had no plan. I was in a state of confusion. I thought I would be going to prison for the rest of my life,” he testified. “I should have called police, but I didn’t. I was scared.”

Prosecutor David Pierce asked why, when the trial began, Hathcoat suddenly came up with the story that the two men were killed by David White.

“You have been in jail here for two years and you never mentioned anything about David White,” Pierce said. “Were you concerned that someone shot your father’s brains out? You had plenty of opportunity to tell the story before today.”

Hathcoat said White had once been his best friend and he was protecting him. Pierce pointed out that although Hathcoat claimed to have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol and wasn’t thinking clearly, the defendant was able to drive to a bar and buy two beers and then drive to Tahlequah without any difficulty. Hathcoat said after leaving his sister’s home he found a drug dealer and bought about $200 worth of methamphetamine. He said he visited long-time friend Candice Morrison in Tahlequah. Morrison testified earlier than Hathcoat arrived in his father’s pickup wearing a heavy jacket even though it was a hot day. “He was kind of nervous acting,” Morrison said. She said he gave her a Walmart sack full of money and told her to count it. “He didn’t say where the money came from. He said he had done something bad, but I didn’t want to know what. He had a pistol with him when he first came in and hid it in my closet,” she said. According to Morrison the defendant took a shower and also washed his clothes, a statement that Hathcoat denied. “She lied,” he said. Morrison also testified that Hathcoat said he needed to get far away. Together, they did meth and then went to a casino for a few hours. Park Ranger Clinton Harrell testified that Hathcoat was arrested in Sequoyah State Park and Recreation area on Aug. 5 at about 1:30 p.m. He was driving his father’s pickup. A .243 caliber rifle was found in the cab of the truck, behind the seat. Several OSBI agents testified during the trial, carefully putting together the murder scene and identifying DNA and other forensic evidence.