Stillwater man killed in near-beheading; murder charge filed

“I murdered someone,” Marin told the operator.

Moments later Wednesday afternoon, police say they found Marin running west near a car dealership on State Highway 51, still carrying the weapon. When they asked Marin where he was coming from, authorities say Marin directed them to a nearby apartment where they found the body of Jacob Andrew Crockett, 19, of Stillwater.

On Thursday, Marin, 21, was charged with first-degree murder. Police say Marin confessed to killing Crockett. The men had been classmates at Stillwater High School, the school’s principal said.

Crockett is the son of an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, police said.

During a video arraignment Thursday afternoon in front of Payne County Special Judge Robert Hert, Marin’s voice sputtered and he appeared to cry as he answered the judge’s questions. Marin was ordered held without bail. He is due back in court Dec. 1.

At a news conference earlier in the day, Stillwater police Capt. Randy Dickerson said Marin admitted to authorities “that he had fantasized recently about committing multiple homicides” and that the victim was “one of his intended targets.”

“The conversation was that he had planned to to do it all at one time,” the police captain said.

The victim’s brother, Jesse Crockett, told police Marin is a “religious zealot” and “heavy drug user,” according to a court affidavit.

Police confirmed there was evidence at the scene that Marin might have been involved in the use of some illegal drugs.

The defendant’s brother, Samuel Marin, said “in the past Jacob and Isaiah had disagreements because Jacob and Jesse were practicing witchcraft and Isaiah had strong Christian beliefs,” a Stillwater police officer reported in the affidavit.

Dickerson was quick to point out at the news conference that the case was not related to recent cases of beheadings by Islamic extremists — including the attack in September by an Islamic convert at Vaughan Foods in Moore.

The police officer who wrote the affidavit, Jeff Watts, reported that the victim had what appeared to be multiple deep slash and stab wounds and the “head was mostly severed from his body.”

Samuel Marin said he and Isaiah Marin were playing a card game in the apartment when “Isaiah picked up a large black sword and removed it from a sheath … and began swinging the sword around,” the officer reported.

Court records show that Samuel Marin and Jesse and Jacob Crockett were roommates in an apartment at 416 S Oakdale, Apt. 6.

Recap from the news conference PDF: Isaiah Zoar Marin probable cause affidavit PDF: Murder charges against Isaiah Zoar Marin