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A McIntosh County sheriff’s detective and OSBI agent arrested a suspect in a year old homicide case this morning. Deborah Kathryn Kelso, 57, was found dead inside her home near Checotah August 14, 2012. Steven Lee Vanzant (d.o.b 3/27/1960) shot Kelso in the head and then set her home on fire. Vanzant and Kelso lived together for many years.

For the past year the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office, OSBI, Okfuskee County District Attorney’s Office, Okemah Police Department, Checotah Police Department, and State Fire Marshal’s Office worked to build a murder case. Vanzant was arrested at a friend’s home four miles northwest of Okemah at approximately 11 o’clock this morning. He was booked into the McIntosh County Criminal Justice Center on first degree murder. Vanzant’s bond is set at $2,000,000.