In the quiet hours of a September morning in 2021, the life of 34-year-old Mitchell Dean Roberts was violently cut short in his Tulsa, Oklahoma home. On September 19th, three armed men, described as white and in their late 30s, forced their way into Roberts' residence in what would become a fatal home invasion. When police officers arrived at the scene near Apache and Yale, they found Roberts deceased.
The intruders had fled the scene in two separate vehicles, leaving behind a community in shock and a family devastated.
The investigation into the death of Mitchell Dean Roberts quickly revealed a complex and sinister plot that extended beyond a random act of violence. Authorities discovered that the home invasion was not a spontaneous crime but a meticulously orchestrated murder with connections to organized crime. The trail led investigators to an inmate within the walls of the Dick Conner Correctional Center in Hominy. Zachary Millard, a man with ties to the Irish mob, was found to have ordered the killing of Roberts, who was also a member of the same gang. Millard used a contraband cell phone from his prison cell to arrange the deadly assault.
As the investigation deepened, a network of individuals involved in the murder plot was unraveled. Six co-conspirators, all associated with the Irish mob, were identified and ultimately pleaded guilty to various charges connected to the crime. These individuals were named as Ryan Scott Luna, Jacob Kyle Shelton, Donald Tippy, Jr., Kacy Ray Delaney, Levi Dalton, and Christopher Polhamus. The man authorities believe to be the shooter, Christopher Taylor, died before he could be formally charged. The collaborative efforts of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, the Tulsa Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations were crucial in piecing together the conspiracy that led to the untimely death of Mitchell Dean Roberts. In October 2024, Zachary Millard was sentenced to life in prison for his role in orchestrating the murder from behind bars.
