WAGONER COUNTY, Okla. -- A woman accused of murder in the cold case of a Broken Arrow graduate is back in custody.
A Wagoner County woman charged in the cold case homicide of a Broken Arrow graduate pled guilty to accessory after the fact on Monday.
Wagoner County First Assistant District Attorney Jack Thorp told 2 Works for You Courtney Manzer, 27, admitted in court to lying through years of investigations by several agencies about the beating and drowning death of 18-year-old Jarret Clark in May of 2006.
Tony Wallen is currently serving a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in the Clark case. A fourth suspect, Brandon Hargrove, Manzer's boyfriend at the time, died in a car accident in 2008.
Thorp said after the plea, Manzer went back to the Wagoner County Jail until she is transferred to the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections facility in Lexington. He said she would get credit for the time she served in jail and will serve the remainder of her two-year sentence before serving five years on parole.
Deputies arrested Manzer on a complaint of first-degree murder in February of 2014. She was held without bond until October of last year when she was released with an ankle monitor.
Thorp said the final remaining suspect in the case, Dayna Hargrove - also known as Dayna Miller, is yet to be tried for her alleged role. She was booked into the Wagoner County Jail on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree in 2014. Her testimony helped bind Manzer and Wallen over for trial in 2014. Thorp said Hargrove was also supposed to enter a plea on Monday, but a scheduling conflict postponed her appearance.
Court records show Hargrove (Miller) waived her right to a preliminary hearing in August and signed an agreement to a plea deal that states, "...agree to expungement, and full DA cooperation re: expungement upon successful completion of deferred sent." No hearing date was set on Monday.
Investigators said in a probable cause affidavit, the group attended a graduation party at the lake on May 13, 2006. Witnesses said Wallen started beating on Clark because he said Clark had stolen from him. The affidavit said Dayna Hargrove stood watch while Wallen and her brother dumped an unconscious Clark in the lake. Manzer said for years she didn't know what happened, but Thorp said she admitted to lying in court on Monday.
Investigations by Wagoner officials, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and two grand juries failed to produce indictments or charges. In 2012, the Wagoner County Sheriff assigned an investigator to review the evidence and interview witnesses and suspects. The first charges were filed in February of 2014.
Monday, she pled guilty to accessory after the fact to first degree murder. A judge sentenced her to seven years in state custody, two in prison and five on parole.
Manzer has already served time in jail, so the DA's office says she could soon be released.
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