Daniel Joseph Triplett
An Oklahoma man accused of murder could see his bond revoked after visiting a popular, all-night, breakfast-themed restaurant.
Daniel Joseph Triplett, 66, was charged with murder in the first degree and desecration of a human corpse in October 2021. He eventually bonded out but is now in jeopardy of going back to jail after recently visiting a Waffle House, going to a convenience store, and going to a bank. Logan County District Attorney Laura Thomas says that those outings constitute evidence the alleged killer has “repeatedly violated the court’s orders regarding his bond conditions.”
The charges were leveled against the defendant in Logan County, Okla. after he was allegedly caught in a series of “paper-thin” lies about the disappearance and death of 50-year-old Brent Mack, an employee of his who vanished in late September of last year.
The victim’s body was ultimately found buried underneath a septic tank.
An investigation began after Mack’s daughter, Raychelle Wilson, raised questions about her father’s whereabouts and concerns over his wellbeing following a conversation with the defendant.
In a Facebook Messenger chat, Triplett allegedly said he fired the deceased man on Sept. 20, 2021 and dropped him off at a laundromat with $1,000 in severance pay.
The defendant subsequently deleted that conversation from his own account, police allege, but the daughter retained screenshots of the messages and provided them to investigators.
That day in September also happened to be the last time Mack was heard from when he called and texted his girlfriend in Texas.
Investigators, however, figured something didn’t quite add up.
“He stated that he wanted to cut ties with Brent because of his violent demeanor,” authorities wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Dan stated he gave Brent $1,000 as a severance pay. Dan claimed that Brent exited the truck and told him he was going to Texas to get married.”
So far, at that point, Triplett’s story for police was more or less congruent with what he allegedly told Mack’s daughter. Then investigators obtained two separate pieces of security camera footage that told an altogether different kind of story.
First there was some curious footage from the Holiday Laundry on Cleveland Street in Guthrie, Okla.
“Dan was shown a copy of the video footage showing him driving by the Holiday Laundry and not stopping,” authorities said. “When confronted with the inconsistencies in the story Dan became very red faced and appeared to be angry. Dan was asked about other jobs and locations and Dan stated he couldn’t remember.”
A search warrant was then executed which led authorities to a particularly important job–a job that occurred on Sept. 20, 2021, the last day Mack was ever heard from.
According to a statement book obtained from the defendant’s truck, that job occurred at a house that received a septic tank install on the date in question. And the homeowner, as it turned out, had some tell-tale surveillance footage of their own.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the surveillance footage showed two people–identified as Triplett and Mack–entering the septic tank hole. But only one person left that day. Investigators later dug up the septic tank and found Mack’s decomposing body buried there.
“[T]he Medical Examiners officer had located what’s believed to be a projectile in the chest cavity with an entry wound in [Mack’s] upper left back,” authorities wrote in the affidavit.
The victim’s family was aghast that Triplett was allowed to make bond after such gruesome allegations.
“When she spoke the words ‘I’m going to grant bond in the amount of $500,000’ it was unreal to me,” victim’s brother, Troy Franklin-Smith, told local Fox affiliate KOKH.
Now, thanks to that alleged Waffle House trip, a bond revocation hearing is currently scheduled for Jan. 14.
[image via Guthrie Police Department]