Blackwell man charged with obstruction in May death

BLACKWELL — Cesar Angel Valenciano, 18, of Blackwell, was charged Jan. 24 in Kay County District Court with obstruction of a police officer and intentionally removing a dead body of a human being from the initial site.

The charges were filed in connection with the shooting death of Christopher Connolly in May 2017. The death was ruled a suicide by the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office last year.

Valenciano is currently in the Kay County Detention Center with an initial court appearance scheduled today.

The shooting is alleged to have occurred at 1237 S. 1st Street in Blackwell. The incident was reported to the Blackwell Police Department at 2:20 a.m. May 14, 2017. The subsequent investigation found a blue truck parked on the west side of the driveway with a large pool of blood on the ground  and a Smith  and Wesson  handgun  sitting in the blood.

Blackwell Police investigators also located what appeared to be .40 caliber Smith and Wesson load bullets in the pool of blood. Connolly had already been transported to a local hospital at the time of the discovery.

Valenciano and a juvenile were believed to be witnesses, but Blackwell Police wrote in an affidavit that their stories were not making sense.

Investigators then located a spent shell casing south of some trash cans that were sitting on the edge of the alleyway and the property. As the search continued in the alley, just north of where the truck was parked, a .40 caliber loaded bullet was found. The police report said it was about 20 yards north of the truck.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was called to assist Blackwell Police. An affidavit reports that during an interview with OSBI and Blackwell Police, Valenciano told investigators that Connolly shot himself in the head while they were outside in the alley. Valenciano admitted in the interview that he and the juvenile moved Connolly’s body to in front of the truck that was parked on the side of the driveway to hide the body. Valenciano also admitted he picked up the gun from the scene and took the magazine out and put it in his left front pocket.

The juvenile was interviewed with his mother present later on that morning. He allegedly admitted to the investigators about helping move Connolly’s body and it is alleged he lied about the timetable of his involvement, initially telling investigators that he was asleep at the time of the shooting.

Valenciano said in the interview he helped move the body to hide it and picked up the gun and tampered with the evidence. The investigators allege in their affidavit that the stories on the shooting and the gun changed multiple times during the interview.

It is also alleged that Valenciano tried to hide the shirt he was wearing to impede the investigation further.

Valenciano said in his statement that he thought it was his fault that Connolly shot himself. He said Connolly said  something like “I could kill myself” and Valenciano told him “you won’t.” Connolly then shot himself, Valenciano said.