Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Pryor, OK: Pryor woman convicted of murder in husband's death

PRYOR -- A Mayes County jury on Tuesday convicted a Pryor woman in the slaying of her husband more than two years ago, Court Clerk Lori Parsons said.

The panel deliberated about three and a half hours before finding Wendy Cobb, 46, guilty of first-degree murder in the April 2009 death of Michael Cobb, who reportedly was beaten with a baseball bat and set on fire.

After a weeklong trial, the jury recommended a sentence of life with the possibility of parole, Parsons said. District Judge Terry McBride scheduled her sentencing for Dec. 21.

Prosecutors alleged that Wendy Cobb helped her alleged boyfriend, Nicholas Lee Shires, 26, carry out a plan to kill Michael Cobb, an Osage firefighter.

Court records allege that Wendy Cobb transported Shires to Michael Cobb’s residence and allowed him inside where he waited with a baseball bat.

Wendy Cobb provided the baseball bat as well as the gasoline Shires used to set Michael Cobb’s body and the residence on fire, records show.

Cobb’s cause of death was blunt head trauma with smoke inhalation as a secondary factor, according to the state Medical Examiner’s Office. Records indicate the skull fracture happened before the body was burned.

Shires, charged with first-degree murder, faces an arraignment Nov. 16, Parsons said.

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