Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man accused of beheading a woman and attacking others at a food distribution warehouse in Moore, Oklahoma, according to court documents filed on Thursday.
Alton Nolen, 30, has been charged with murder in the death of Colleen Hufford, 54, and the attempted murder of Traci Johnson, 43, as well as assault with a deadly weapon.
The FBI is also examining Nolen’s background for any potential religious ties to the attack after former colleagues said he had tried to convert them to Islam. Police said Nolen had recently become a Muslim.
Nolen’s crime was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” and he knowingly put multiple people at “great risk of death,”Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn said in the filing, which outlines plans to seek a death sentence.
The defendant probably poses a “continuing threat to society” and was previously convicted of a felony for using or threatening violence, Mashburn said.
Nolen, who was arraigned on Wednesday, is accused of attacking the women shortly after being fired on Sept. 25 from Vaughan Foods in Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City. He was ordered held without bond and requested a Muslim lawyer to represent him.
Nolen and officials at an Oklahoma City mosque confirmed he was a frequent worshiper there in recent months.
A police affidavit said Nolen grabbed Hufford from behind and cut her across the throat with a large knife, beheading her with a back-and-forth sawing motion and tried to behead Johnson.
The company’s chief operating officer, who is also a sheriff’s deputy, halted the attack when he shot Nolen in the arm and abdomen, authorities said.
Nolen was charged on Tuesday by county prosecutors.
Hufford’s funeral is set for Friday.
Reuters
