Top inset: Jordan Cannon (Resthaven Funeral Home, Cemetery & Cremation). Bottom inset: Vaughn Cannon (Canadian County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The location where Jordan Cannon was killed (KOKO).
A former Oklahoma deputy was sentenced to life in prison for killing his deputy wife, shooting her in the face a dozen times.
Vaughn Cannon, 42, learned his fate Tuesday in the death of his wife, Jordan Cannon, 40. Cannon pleaded guilty in September to first-degree murder.
At the sentencing, the victim’s father, Nathan Pyle, took the defendant to task, saying he had reservations about their marriage and warned him not to raise a hand to her, the Oklahoman reported.
“No, you just shot her 12 times in the face,” Pyle said, the newspaper reported.
One of the defendant’s sons, who is also the victim’s stepson, took the stand, stared at Vaughn Cannon, and said, “I (expletive) hate you,” the Oklahoman reported.
Local ABC affiliate KOCO reported Pyle reacting to the sentence, saying, “I think it was only just that he spend the rest of his life in prison. He took her life, and we’ll never see her again until the afterlife.”
In a statement read in the courtroom before the sentence was imposed, Cannon said he’s tortured.
“Please believe me when I say it is so much worse for me,” he said, the outlet reported. “I am tortured every single day. It’s been brutal. I would take her place if God would let me. I will accept the sentence given to me by the court.”
As Law&Crime reported, Cannon shot his wife on Aug. 30, 2023, at their Canadian County home, according to court records.
Body-worn camera footage obtained by Law&Crime shows the defendant hysterical after the violence.
The night of the shooting, Cannon’s stepson heard several gunshots and then sharp cries, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case and obtained by Law&Crime.
The then-17-year-old told officers he went to sleep around midnight and didn’t think his mom or stepdad was home.
Around 2 a.m., the boy said, he awoke to hear “approximately five gunshots” and Cannon “screaming from their bedroom,” so he ran outside the residence and called the police.
Responding officers found Jordan Cannon dead in one of the bedrooms. Several firearms were found inside the house.
“Is there anybody else in there with you?” an officer shouts at the defendant in the body-worn camera video.
“No, it’s my wife,” Cannon replies from around a corner in the house.
“Is she OK?” the officer asks.
“No,” Cannon says.
Officers explain they intend to help the wounded woman but need the man to “help” them as well — stressing that he already knows “how this works” and asking him, “please don’t have a weapon,” the footage shows. He says he does not have a weapon.
Seconds pass in the video as Cannon slowly crawls out of the bedroom on his hands and knees. His left hand grips a black cellphone, which he plaintively but loudly speaks into.
“Uncle, uncle, uncle, come see me,” the deputy says through tears. “Uncle, come see. Uncle Charles.”
The alleged killer’s cries for his uncle continue as officers take hold of him and survey the carnage, while Cannon’s voice cracks and becomes increasingly muddled and shrill by apparent grief.
The deputy shouts, increasingly louder, for his uncle as the two officers place him into handcuffs.
Police say Cannon stopped short of admitting to the crime.
“Detectives interviewed Vaughn after being advised of his Miranda Rights,” the affidavit of probable cause reads. “After he agreed to speak with detectives, he said he did not remember the entire incident. Vaughn recalled being in their bedroom with his wife who was sitting on the side of the bed. Vaughn remembered hearing gunshots and called his uncle. During their conversation, Vaughn said, he’ f—– up.’ His uncle told Vaughn to surrender to the police.”
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
