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Home / World

Eight-year-old boy identifies his mother as father's killer

By James Gordon
Daily Mail·
26 Jan, 2018 08:51 PM2 mins to read

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Amber McMurtrey, (left), is accused of killing her husband Neil Vaughn (right) with a knife. Photo / Facebook

Amber McMurtrey, (left), is accused of killing her husband Neil Vaughn (right) with a knife. Photo / Facebook

An eight-year-old boy told police his mother stabbed his father to death and then told them where she stashed the knife after denying the slaying.

Police from Del City, Oklahoma found Neil Vaughn, 40, in his driveway suffering from a stab wound on Saturday night.

Vaugn's wife, 34-year-old Amber McMurtrey, would not tell officers what happened - only that her husband had been stabbed outside and not in the house, reports Daily Mail.

At the time, officers said that she smelled of alcohol and could smell marijuana inside the home.

According to NewsOK Officers then asked if they could search the home after seeing blood on the living room floor.

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McMurtrey refused them access and so police placed her under arrest while a social worker came to take custody of the boy, according to the affidavit.

Once police were inside the home, they found a trail of blood leading from a bedroom down through the hallway and along to the driveway. Various drug paraphernalia including a burning marijuana cigarette was also collected.

Witnesses gave cops harrowing details of the alleged killing and told investigators they had seen Vaughn running in the front yard and driveway before collapsing.

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At the time, officers said that she smelled of alcohol and could smell marijuana inside the home. Photo / Facebook
At the time, officers said that she smelled of alcohol and could smell marijuana inside the home. Photo / Facebook

Another went as far as to claim that she saw McMurtrey stab her husband and run away.

However it was the couple's young son who finally gave the game away.

After initially saying that a "masked person came in and stabbed my daddy and then left," he was told by his grandmother in no uncertain terms to "not tell any stories."

The boy later changed his story and told police where the knife was hidden. Neil Vaughn, (right). Photo / Facebook
The boy later changed his story and told police where the knife was hidden. Neil Vaughn, (right). Photo / Facebook

The boy then said that his mother, McMurtrey, had stabbed his dad, Vaughn, and then hidden the 'reindeer knife' above the toilet.

Investigators returned to the home and found the knife exactly where the boy had said it would be.

McMurtrey is being held without bail in the Oklahoma County jail on charges of murder, child neglect and possession of drugs and paraphernalia.

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