Ex-wife has immunity in Oxley murder

Dawn Oxley said Thursday that she was granted immunity against prosecution in the February 2008 murder of her ex-husband Benjamin Oxley as long as she testifies truthfully in the case.

Oxley, 37, testified for more than two hours in a preliminary hearing for her ex-boyfriend James Matlean, 23, charged with first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.

The immunity agreement was signed in February by Chief Deputy District Attorney Tom Gregory, Oxley and her attorney, Robert Morris.

If she complies, no charges will be filed relating to her involvement, if any, in Oxley's murder or her assitance provided to whoever is responsible for the killing to avoid prosecution.

Under the agreement, she is forbidden to contact Matlean or his family unless requested by the district attorney's office. She also was to keep the agreement and terms confidential, but was not prohibited from discussing the case with defense counsel, investigators or in court.

The agreement, disclosed Thursday at the beginning of her testimony, becomes invalid if Oxley lies, fails to answer questions, withholds information or provides evasive answers to officers investigating the case.

She is subject to prosecution for perjury for intentional false statements while on the witness stand.

It will be up to the trial court judge to determine if Oxley complied with the agreement.

Senior Judge Steven McMorris, agreeing with defense attorney Ken Stover that "her credibility was an issue," warned Oxley not to give evasive answers.

"Be straightforward," he said. "I sense a little evasiveness. You've got immunity. I expect your answers to be straightforward."

"I am, your honor," she said.

"I've got some question about that," McMorris said.

Oxley contradicted earlier testimony by her son, Devon Mitchell, that he overheard his mother and Matlean drunkenly discussing killing the victim the night before he was shot.

Mitchell testified Thursday that the night before the shooting, his mother and Matlean were intoxicated and talking about killing Ben Oxley so she could regain custody of their daughter and stop paying child support.

Dawn Oxley, in custody for a probation violation, was absent during her son's testimony.

"They wanted him dead," Mitchell said. "She wanted James Matlean to go out and kill him. They were talking about the custody. When they got drunk, they went overboard. They both were under the influence."

Mitchell testified that his mother wanted her ex-husband "just to die in a random spontaneous burst of flame or for James Matlean to just go out and kill him."

Mitchell, who was 15 at the time, said he went to bed between 11 p.m.-midnight and when he got up the next morning "the cops were at our door and said Ben was dead, and had been murdered."

"It left me speechless. The next morning, he turns out to be actually dead. It was not how I expected the day to go," Mitchell said.

The 18-year-old is in the Army stationed at Fort Sam Houston. He testified Thursday in uniform.

Dawn Oxley claimed she was referring to an ex-boyfriend named Rick with whom she and Matlean were irritated, but the discussion turned to Oxley.

"I didn't say I wanted him (Oxley) dead. I said I wanted him to fall off the face of the earth," she said.

When informed of her son's testimony, she said did not want to believe "my son would think of me like that."

"You had no active involvement in Ben's death?" Stover asked.

"No," Oxley replied.

She testified that she became intimate with Matlean in January 2008, about six weeks before Oxley's death and continued their relationship until August 2009.

"For 17 months after you had learned 'it had been done,' you maintained a romantic relationship? Why would you make love with the man that killed your husband?" Stover asked.

"Because I did," she said.

Shortly after the relationship, Oxley admitted calling a sheriff's investigator and asking, "If I confess to the murder of my ex-husband would you put me in prison?"

She testified Wednesday it wasn't an admission of guilt.

"I told him I wanted it over with," Oxley said. "I was drinking myself to death. I couldn't take it anymore - the knowing and the not telling."

"Don't you think you should go to prison for your involvement in your husband's death?" Stover asked.

"No, I do not," she said.

She said Matlean never admitted directly that he shot Oxley.

"I asked him if he set foot in that house," she said. "I got three different stories. I do not know if James pulled the trigger or not."

Oxley said shortly before midnight Feb. 20, she and Matlean started talking about her ex-husband.

"Then James was on the phone with somebody and he asked me if I really wanted Ben killed. I told him no. We'd been drinking a lot that night. In my mind it was definitely not real. I knew my daughter was over there.

"Basically, I said, 'Whatever. It wasn't really happening. We were drunk. It wasn't real. I told him no more than once. I sat down on the couch, the TV was on or the lights. He was on the phone standing at the edge of the kitchen counter. I passed out on the couch, the next thing James was waking me up and said, 'It was done.'

"He led me to believe Ben was dead,'" she said.

She said they took Matlean's truck to his mother's house and returned home.

"I asked him if he's serious. Is it real? Is this really happening? He said yes," Oxley testified.

She said they agreed to tell law enforcement they'd been home all night watching movies.

"I asked him what happened. He explained to me he whispered in his (Ben's) ear and said, "this was for lying about Dawn. Then he was killed."

Oxley said Matlean told her he used her Bank of America card at the Riverview 7-Eleven ATM machine to withdraw $40 which he spent at Walmart in north Douglas County for duct tape, shoes, shotgun shells, gloves and towels.

Investigators recovered the receipt.

Oxley's widow Melissa choked back sobs earlier Thursday as she recalled being awakened by the shotgun blast that killed her husband as he slept next to her in their Wildhorse home.

"I remember hearing a noise," she said.

"My ears were ringing, I thought I was dreaming. I smelled gun smoke. I tried to wake Ben. I nudged him and said, 'Honey, there's something to check on.'"

When her husband did not respond, Oxley said she walked down the hallway and saw the front door to their home was open.

Alarmed, Oxley said she went back to try to wake her husband, but realized that he had been shot.

She raced to her then-6-year-old stepdaughter's bedroom, closed the door and called 911. It was approximately 3:30 a.m.

The preliminary hearing is to resume Nov. 30 when Stover will have an opportunity to present evidence for the defense.

He told McMorris he planned to call Oxley back to the stand and Eric Thompson who shared a cellblock with Matlean in Douglas County Jail.

Thompson testified that Matlean admitted killing Oxley.

"He said he used a shotgun," Thompson testified. "The woman he was involved with didn't like the individual."

The preliminary hearing is to decide if there is enough evidence to determine that the crime was committed and Matlean is the likely suspect. It does not determine innocence or guilt.

Matlean has been in custody since December on other charges. He was charged with the Oxley murder in June.