Testimony begins in murder trial for B'ville man accused of shooting wife

The jury selection process completed Monday, testimony began Tuesday in the trial of a Bartlesville man charged with second degree murder for allegedly fatally shooting his wife.

Gary Carl Buoy, 52, has been held in the Washington County jail on a $250,000 bond since his arrest in June following the shooting of 51-year-old Diana Faye Buoy more than a year ago.

The investigation that lead to his arrest began on Jan. 7, 2011, when police received a report a person had been shot. They arrived to the Buoy's apartment home on the 201 S.E. Avondale and saw Buoy's wife had been shot in the head.

Buoy reportedly told police during questioning he had accidently shot her while holding a revolver and manipulating the hammer. He said he had been several feet away from her when the gun went off.

However, police arrested Buoy when the autopsy revealed the gun had been fired two to four inches from her head — as indicated by the gunpowder burn marks left on her head.

When confronted with the findings, Buoy reportedly said he and his wife “must have been much closer to each other than he originally realized.”

Testimony began Monday morning following opening statements by Jared Sigler of the Washington District Attorney's Office, representing the state, and Buoy's attorney Kristi Sanders.

Sigler while going over the case asked jurors to pay particular attention to Buoy's police interviews and how his story of the Jan.7 incident appeared to change to match the evidence as it was revealed.

He also pointed out how later testimony with an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations firearms expert will show how the gun had been fired less then four inches away from Diana's head, according to gunpowder and soot marks left near the wound.

The expert, Sigler said, will point out how the particular .357 revolver had a built-in safety feature which would force the trigger to be fully pulled back in order to cause the gun to fire — indicating the firing as not accidental.

In her opening statement, Sanders asked the jurors to not only pay close attention to Buoy's account of the incident, as requested by the state, but also to his wife and where she lay following the shooting.

She said the both Buoy and his wife had recliners side-by-side in the living room and both recliners had storage compartments where they stored their pistols. She said Buoy and Diane had been about to stow their guns in a safe when while showing his gun to his wife, Buoy's gun went off striking his wife in the head.

Sanders said future testimony will show how if the hammer is already drawn back, the safety mechanism on the gun referred to by the state, is no longer effective. In this condition, the trigger need not be fully pulled to fire — indicating the gun had been accidentally set off, she said.

Following their statements, first called to the stand was Officer Korrie Plummer, the first of the police to arrive to the scene.

She told the jury she found Diane in the living room on her knees in front of her recliner with her head at the base of the safe and her legs curled underneath her body.

Buoy, she said, was highly emotional.

Asked by the state prosecution if she noticed anything unusual about Buoy, she said he was “very vocal” but that she did not recall seeing tears or a runny nose.

She said at one point at the scene he told her something about a hammer and cylinder, the gun going off, looking to the right and seeing his wife had fallen over.