A bond reduction motion filed by a defendant charged with first degree murder has been denied and the prepreliminary hearings for him and another man facing first degree murder charges have been reset.
First degree murder charges against Steven Roberts, 55, and Virgil Earl Nelson, 67 were filed Dec. 21, 2021. They are accused of killing Daniel Aaron, 33, who reportedly was shot to death as he drove his motorcycle on U.S. 62 in Lincoln County near Harrah last Sept. 12.
Special Judge Emily Mueller recently denied Nelson’s motion to reduce his bond. She continued their pre-preliminary hearings to 1:30 p.m. on May 5.
An agreement between the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General has been filed for both Nelson and Roberts, court records show.
Larry Wayne Ramirez, 51, and Conner Buntz, 33, are each charged with accessory after the fact to first degree murder.
Their charges were dismissed in Lincoln County Jan. 4 and refiled the same day in Cleveland County and they were transported there.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Brewer said Cleveland County officials came and picked them up separately and transported them to the Detention Center in that county.
Associate District Judge Sheila Kirk originally scheduled Nelson’s pre-preliminary hearing for Jan. 20.
She also originally scheduled a pre-preliminary hearing for Roberts for Jan. 24. During a bond reduction hearing on Jan. 12 for Roberts, she denied a motion to instate bond and stated the order of no bond stands in effect.
The four are reportedly members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
The State Attorney General’s Office is in charge of the cases.
Roberts is accused of on Sept. 12, 2021 in Lincoln County in concert with Nelson of committing first degree murder with malice and aforethought causing Aaron’s death by shooting him in the back of his body.
Nelson is accused of acting in concert with Roberts to commit first degree murder by shooting Aaron in the back of his body.
An alternate count against Nelson is on or between Sep. 12, 2021 and Dec. 16, 2021 in concert with Ramirez of committing the crime of accessory after the fact to first degree murder by knowingly after the commission of first degree murder aided Roberts with efforts to conceal the crime by concealing the motorcycle Roberts used in the commission of Aaron’s death with knowledge Roberts had committed first degree murder in Lincoln County.
The charge further states it was with the intent that Roberts might avoid or escape arrest, trial, conviction or punishment.
The charges against Ramirez and Buntz accuse them of committing accessory after the fact to the crime of first degree murder by concealing the motorcycle Roberts used in the murder of Aaron with the intent to help him avoid arrest, trial or conviction.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, Aaron was a member of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club. Aaron had a prospect, Brandon Drain, driving beside him the day Aaron was allegedly shot and killed near Harrah in Lincoln County.
Drain advised the agents the motorcycle riders passed on Highway 62 and that Aaron immediately began to drift into the opposing lane of traffic and laid his motorcycle down.
Drain went to Aaron and noticed a lump in Aaron’s throat.