At the conclusion of a preliminary hearing yesterday, Logan County Special District Judge Susan Worthington found there was sufficient evidence for Nathan LeForce to stand trial for the murder of a Logan County Sheriff's Deputy.

On April 18, Deputy David Wade went to the Guthrie home of John and Christine Lute to serve an eviction notice. Nearly as soon as he got out of his vehicle, LeForce, who was visiting the property, raised a gun and fired at the deputy, shooting him several times before fleeing in the deputy's pickup. 

Deputy Wade was transported to OU Medical Center, where he died on the operating table.

LeForce, who stole a woman's car in Coyle after ditching the deputy's vehicle, was apprehended by law enforcement including the Oklahoma Highway Patrol a short time later.

At the preliminary hearing, John and Christine Lute testified that they had only met LeForce the day before, when he came to take a disabled pickup truck off the property.  Lute says that LeForce took a black gun from his pants and placed it in a kitchen drawer and began helping the couple pack. The man remained on the property to wait for a ride since he could not drive the disabled pickup.

Lute testified that he went to bed, and when he woke up, LeForce was still on the property. As Lute was in a bedroom and his wife in the kitchen, Deputy Wade drove up to serve the eviction notice. John Lute says he heard shots fired and first thought the deputy had shot LeForce. When he went outside, he found the deputy injured.

Christine Lute says she watched LeForce drive away in the deputy's truck.

When asked about possible drug use, John Lute said that he was unsure whether or not LeForce used drugs the day of the shooting, but that he had used " between a quarter of a gram and a half of a gram of meth" the day before the shooting.

No motive has been given in the shooting, and LeForce was not the person being served the eviction notice. Prosecutors say they plan to seek the death penalty at LeForce's trial, which is scheduled to begin in November.