Full Notification

Just before 10 o’clock Wednesday night, the Atoka County Sheriff’s Office requested OSBI assistance with a double homicide at 253 N. Highway 69 north of Atoka at the Sanford Oil Company. Officials found 53-year-old Kathryn Lucille Banks and 49-year-old Kent Melvin Houchen dead of apparent gunshot wounds. Law enforcement officials also found Sherman D. Banks, 64, a short distance from his home located at 125 N. George Ranch Road in Stringtown. Banks was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Kathryn and Sherman Banks had recently filed protective orders on one another and were divorcing. Houchen, of Antlers, was a truck driver for Sanford Oil where Kathryn Banks also worked. OSBI agents worked both scenes. From the information gleaned from witnesses and family so far, it appears Sherman Banks shot and killed his estranged wife and co-worker, Kent Houchen, then drove home where he committed suicide. The investigation continues.