Jail death no longer called homicide
An Oklahoma County jail inmate who died Feb. 5 is no longer being considered a homicide victim because of new evidence.
Ricky Earl Windle, 53, died as a result of complications from multiple blunt force trauma, the pathologist who did the autopsy concluded.
The pathologist at first
reported Windle was a homicide victim because other inmates assaulted him Jan. 10. The pathologist is now reporting the manner of death is unknown.
The change was made after a sheriff’s investigator listened to recordings of phone calls Windle made from the jail. In one call, Windle told a relative he fell out of his jail bunk and may have hurt a rib, authorities said.
“There’s no question he got beat up,” Acting Sheriff P.D. Taylor said Tuesday. “That’s why we thought we had a homicide here. And we had the two people identified. It would have been a good strong case until, all of sudden, hey, wait a minute, this may have happened at another time by an accident.”
Windle developed a fatal infection after suffering three broken ribs as well as other injuries in the jail, according to the autopsy report. He had been in jail since September and was charged with violations of the state sex offender law.
The change to the report was made June 20. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released the amended report to The Oklahoman on Tuesday.
Windle had served time in prison for a 2003 attempted rape and indecent exposure. He told police in September he had been living in a Del City park since April 2014 and slept underneath a bridge.
He died at a hospital, a day after being found unconscious in his cell.
Investigators concluded he was beaten in January because the other inmates found out he was a sex offender. Those inmates still could face an assault charge once investigators turn over reports to prosecutors.