NewsOK member benefits

Preliminary hearing set in Oklahoma dismemberment case

PAULS VALLEY — A judge has scheduled a preliminary hearing for an Oklahoma man accused of killing a man, then dismembering his body and dumping it in a pond using cement-filled buckets.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Published: December 6, 2012

PAULS VALLEY — A judge has scheduled a preliminary hearing for an Oklahoma man accused of killing a man, then dismembering his body and dumping it in a pond using cement-filled buckets.

Justin Hammer is charged with first-degree murder with deliberate intent in the Aug. 7 death of Brandon Duran.

Court documents allege that Hammer told authorities he shot Duran after Duran forced his way into his home and threatened him. Police allege that Hammer then panicked and cut up the body, which was placed in cement-filled buckets and thrown into a pond on his property in Elmore City.

Hammer's attorney has said his client told him he was acting in self-defense.

A local newspaper reports that Hammer's preliminary hearing is set for 9 a.m. on Feb. 28.