Loretta Vanburen found not guilty in 2019 death of her husband

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - A jury found Loretta Vanburen not guilty Saturday evening in the 2019 death of her husband, Terry Vanburen.

During closing arguments, Loretta’s attorney pointed out what he said were critical mistakes made by Cache Police Department, OSBI and the State Medical Examiner’s office throughout the investigation.

The mistakes listed ranged from failure to check the suspect for gunshot residue to failure to request Terry’s medical records,

Loretta said she feels she can finally begin to grieve her husband now that the trial is over.

”It’s been since 2019 and it’s still so fresh because of what we’ve been going through now we can finally grieve my husband and my kids father, and let him rest too,” she said.

Loretta added her belief that without her testimony Friday, the outcome would’ve been different.

Her attorney, John Zelbst shared his appreciation to the jury system for Saturday’s verdict.

”The trust that we have in the jury system played out this week in Comanche County,” Zelbst said. “These fine people heard the evidence, they weighed the evidence, they considered the evidence, and they did what they thought was right.”

The jury reached the verdict after hours of deliberation.

This story has been updated to add that the defense attorneys said the OSBI and State Medical Examiner’s office also made mistakes through the investigation.

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