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Oklahoma police arrest son of politician fatally stabbed at restaurant Oklahoma police arrest son of politician fatally stabbed at restaurant
(about 9 hours later)
Oklahoma’s labor commissioner died after he was stabbed multiple times at an Oklahoma City restaurant on Sunday and his adult son was arrested on a first-degree murder complaint, police said. A man charged with killing his father, who was Oklahoma’s labor commissioner, repeatedly stabbed him with a large kitchen knife in the neck and head at a busy restaurant while his mother tried to stop him, police said on Monday.
Officers were called at around 6.30pm to a Braum’s ice cream and fast food restaurant on the city’s north-west side after a stabbing was reported, Oklahoma City police department captain Paco Balderrama said. Police found labor commissioner Mark Costello stabbed multiple times in the head and neck, Balderrama said. Christian Costello, 26, was being held on a preliminary first-degree murder charge after the Sunday night killing of his father, Oklahoma labor commissioner Mark Costello. The son had asked his parents to meet him at the Braum’s fast-food restaurant in north-west Oklahoma City, where he argued with his father while his mother waited outside.
Costello, 59, was taken to a hospital, where he died. “What set him off to attack the commissioner, we still don’t know,” the Oklahoma City police captain, Paco Balderrama, said at a news conference.
State medical examiner’s office spokeswoman Amy Elliott said an autopsy would be performed. Family members issued a statement through a spokesman saying they could not adequately express the “shock and sadness” they were feeling. They also mentioned that Christian Costello suffered from a mental illness, although they did not specify which one.
Police said an altercation started inside the building and spilled into the parking lot, where bystanders helped subdue the attacker until officers arrived. In a plea bargain over a DUI charge, Christian Costello said he was once confined for three months so he could be treated for mental illness, according to court records. Last year, he was accused of “outraging public decency” by standing outside an Oklahoma City elementary school with his pajama pants down.
Costello’s 26-year-old son, Christian Costello, was taken into custody in the parking lot and arrested on a first-degree murder complaint, Balderrama said. He remained in police custody late on Sunday night. His father was considered a rising star in Republican party politics. Mark Costello took 64% of the vote against an incumbent Democrat in 2010, and the telephone software company founder was re-elected last year.
Balderrama said he did not know whether the younger Costello had an attorney who could comment on the allegations. On Sunday evening, officers were called to the ice cream and fast-food restaurant after a stabbing was reported. Mark Costello, 59, had been stabbed multiple times in the head and neck and died at a hospital.
Condolences poured in from state officials. Balderrama said Cathy Costello, who was the victim’s wife and is the suspect’s mother, was waiting outside the restaurant while the two men met inside, and that she tried to intervene when the fight spilled into the parking lot. At least one witness knocked Christian Costello off-balance with a vehicle, and others held him down until officers arrived, the police spokesman said.
“Our hearts ache as an agency for this tragic event and our department grieves for his family during this very difficult time,” Labor Department chief of staff Jim Marshall said in a statement. Governor Mary Fallin directed that flags be lowered to half-staff for the rest of the week.
Costello was married with five children. “My prayers and deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends and staff. Oklahoma has lost a dedicated public servant and a good man,” she said in a statement.
“I’m just numb right now, as many of us are,” Oklahoma Republican party chairman Randy Brogdon said. “He was a great Christian, a good man and a wonderful husband and dad. He is going to be sorely missed.” State law requires Fallin to appoint a successor to complete the remainder of Costello’s term, which ends in 2018.
Republican US senator James Lankford also lauded Costello, saying in a statement he was “passionate about our nation, conservative fiscal principles, and the people of our state”. The labor department chief of staff, Jim Marshall, said “hearts ache” at the agency and that the department was grieving for the family.
“Mark was a friend, and as we grieve, we will also pray for his family as they deal with this unbelievable tragedy,” Lankford said. The Oklahoma Republican party chairman, Randy Brogdon, called Costello “a great Christian, a good man and a wonderful husband and dad” to five children.
A successful businessman from Bartlesville who founded a telephone software company in 1984, Costello ousted an incumbent Democrat with 64% of the vote during a Republican sweep of statewide offices in 2010. He easily won re-election in 2014. “I’m just numb right now, as many of us are,” Brogdon said. “He is going to be sorely missed.”
A strong proponent of smaller government, Costello closed the agency’s Tulsa office, which he said was underused as the agency’s technology upgrades had allowed much of its professional licensing services to be conducted online. Republican US senator James Lankford said Costello was “passionate about our nation, conservative fiscal principles, and the people of our state”.
“You can reform government,” Costello said during last year’s campaign. “It can be done when there is political will. I have that political will.”