SEQUOYAH COUNTY, Okla. — Three men are facing murder charges for a second time, ten years after the disappearance of Matthew Fagin.
The three were the last to see the 23-year-old alive when they all went hiking together near Lake Tenkiller.
WATCH: Three men charged, connected to 2016 Sequoyah County missing hiker case
In 2016, prosecutors charged Michael Snelling, Charles Shamblin, and Tyler Leverett in the beating death of Fagan, believed to have stemmed from Fagan’s relationship with a married woman.
Investigators said all three men admitted to being involved, but there was a lot of finger-pointing, and their stories conflicted. More importantly, there was no body.
Sequoyah County District Attorney Jack Thorp said the case reached a preliminary hearing, but ultimately, the much-anticipated cell phone records did not provide the corroboration they had hoped to rely on. They were forced to dismiss the charges.
“It was incredibly frustrating, and it was because of the requirement for corroboration. We pushed the case to the very limit,” said Thorp.
Then, in 2024, a hunter found a bone in a creek. Investigators went back and found more remains. Eventually, DNA testing confirmed that the remains were Fagan.
2 News Oklahoma asked Throp what made this case different from others.
"This case is different. I agree with you, we would have no problem doing what we call a ‘no-body’ case. However, based on the statements and the evidence that we had available to us in the case, we could not achieve the level of corroboration necessary for murder in the first degree," said Throp. "So, rather than drop down [the charges], and do something like conspiracy, where we would be limited, I wanted to hold off and wait. Ultimately, we were able to recover the body. And this has given us what we need in order to, we believe, achieve a guilty verdict."
One of the men is in custody, though it is not clear which one. A search is underway to track down the other two men.
At one point in the investigation, the married woman, Fagan, was allegedly in a relationship with, and her husband was also charged in connection with the case.
Their charges were dropped.
Thorp says they remain persons of interest.
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