(PCSD file photos)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — Two Payne County men have been arrested in connection with the slaying of a Stillwater man whose body was found in a wooded area in the 400 block of S Drury last Friday at 10:27 am, police said.
John Helfrick Jr., 31, of Perkins, and Troy Driskel, 28, of Stillwater, have been ordered held in the Payne County Jail pending their arraignments on homicide charges, which have not yet been filed in the killing of Dylan Lewis, 28, of Stillwater.
Driskel was identified by detectives as a suspect in the case and arrested at about 8:20 pm last Friday after a high-risk search warrant was executed in the area of 100 W. Mathews, police said.
“SPD investigators learned of a second suspect through witnesses and statements,” Stillwater Police Lt. Terry Low said in a news release.
Helfrick was located and arrested at about 2:33 am last Saturday, the news release said.
Helfrick, an ex-convict with a 10-year criminal record, had been released from prison two months ago, court records show.
According to Payne County court records and the state Department of Corrections, Helfrick had previously been convicted of:
* being a felon in possession of a firearm and committing third-degree burglary in Stillwater in 2021 for which he was given two concurrent eight-year prison terms but only served about 15 months before his release in May;
* methamphetamine possession in Stillwater in 2020 that was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor in 2021 for which he was given a concurrent one-year jail term;
* second-degree burglary of an automobile in Stillwater in 2017 for which he was given an eight-year prison term in 2018, but only served about two years;
* concealing stolen property in Stillwater in 2016 for which he was originally given probation that was revoked in 2018 to a concurrent five-year prison term, but only served about 10 months:
* possession of alprazolam in Stillwater in 2016 for which he was originally given probation with Drug Court that was revoked in 2018 to a concurrent five-year prison term;
* giving a false name to Stillwater police in 2017 for which he was originally given probation that was revoked in 2018 to a concurrent four years and 305 days in prison;
* drug possession in Payne County in 2013 for which he was originally given probation that was revoked in 2018 to a concurrent two years and 305 days in prison.
