What did Daniel Triplett do? Former Oklahoma City councilman convicted over employee's murder

Former Oklahoma City councilman Daniel Triplett has been found guilty of killing an employee and then burying his body under a septic tank. The 68-year-old was found guilty on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, by a jury after two hours of deliberation. Triplett was found guilty of killing 50-year-old Brent Mack on September 20, 2021. The former faces life imprisonment without parole during his formal sentencing, which is scheduled for June 16, 2023.

Investigators stated that in September 2021, Daniel Triplett and Mack were working on a property on E. County Road 69. They revealed that was when Triplett fatally shot and killed Mack before hiding his body in the septic tank. According to detectives' reports, Brent Mack made his last phone call to his long-distance partner from Texas.

Daniel Triplett has been charged with first-degree murder and desecration of a human corpse. One month after the murder, on October 21, 2021, Triplett was arrested and booked into the Logan County Jail.

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Daniel Triplett was charged with first-degree murder in connection to Brent Mack’s death in 2021

As mentioned earlier, Daniel Triplett killed his employee Brent Mack and buried his remains in September 2021. Prosecutors claimed that Triplett fatally shot Mack and dumped him under a septic tank. However, Triplett testified that he shot his employee in self-defense.

The jurors, however, did not agree with Triplett and convicted him on all counts. His official sentencing is scheduled for June 16, 2023.

During the trial, Brendon Mack, Brent's son, gave a statement about his father's death and said:

“It was bull coming out of his mouth the whole time in there, so that man’s going to rot in hell, and it’s as simple as that.”

Brent’s brother Troy Franklin-Smith gave a statement and said that their fight for justice for Brent had been a long one and that the family wasn't going to go anywhere. He added that he wanted to see where the trial went so that Triplett could see their faces on TV as Triplett wouldn't do it in court. Troy noted that he wanted Triplett to "understand" that the family wasn't "going nowhere."

The case came on the police’s radar when Mack’s daughter contacted Daniel Triplett to look for Mack, who was missing. Triplett reportedly fired Mack on September 20, 2021, and handed him an amount of $1,000 in severance. Authorities discovered that both Mack and Daniel Triplett were installing a septic tank.

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Footage captured both men arriving at the site but only one was seen leaving the area

Surveillance footage revealed that the two men arrived at the address, however, only one of them left. While no argument or altercation was recorded, Triplett claimed that there was an argument between them. The footage further captured Brent going inside the tank hole and then taking a break from the truck.

The last text that Brent sent was to his girlfriend around 12.56 pm the same day. He told her that he would call her later.

Authorities said that Triplett claimed to have given Brent severance pay and that the latter told him that he was going to Texas to get married. When Triplett was asked if Brent was upset about being fired, Triplett said that he wasn't.

However, upon investigation, Triplett admitted that he was in the area when someone brought a bag full of Mack's work clothes and dumped them. Investigators also executed a search warrant on Daniel Triplett’s residence. They believed that Triplett had changed his stance several times.

As mentioned earlier, Triplett's sentencing trial will be held on June 16, 2023.