MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced today that Tyler Jay Mullins, age 44, of Ada, Oklahoma, was found guilty by a federal jury of Murder in Indian Country, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1111(a), 1151, and 1153, and Causing the Death and Murder of a Person in the Course of a Violation of Title 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(j)(1).
The jury trial began with testimony on Monday, June 27, 2022, and concluded on Thursday, June 30, 2022, with the guilty verdict.
During the trial, the United States presented evidence that in the early morning hours of April 20, 2002, the defendant severely beat his ex-girlfriend, Rachel Woodall. The defendant wrapped her in a tarp, put her into the trunk of his car, and drove her to a gravel/sand pit in rural Seminole County. The defendant placed the tarp-wrapped victim into a hole, shot her three times, and buried the body in the hole. The Medical Examiner determined Woodall died from the gun shots. After initially denying responsibility for Woodall’s death, on April 21, 2002, the defendant took law enforcement to where her body was located. A search of the scene also revealed 9mm shell casings in close proximity to the victim’s body.
The guilty verdict was the result of an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case because the defendant in this case is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe and the crime occurred in Seminole County, within the boundaries of the Seminole Nation Reservation, and within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The Honorable Charles B. Goodwin, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, sitting in Oklahoma City, presided over the trial and ordered the completion of a presentence report. Sentencing will be scheduled following completion of the report. Mullins was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending the imposition of sentencing.
Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Flanigan and Dean Burris represented the United States.