JENKS, Okla. — U.S. Attorney General Clint Johnson confirmed Justin Dale Little, 29, of Bristow, Oklahoma was found guilty of first degree murder of his former girlfriend’s new partner.

On April 22, 2018, Jonathon Weatherford was found dead, laying on train tracks in Jenks, Oklahoma with a single gunshot wound to his back.

Officers found surveillance video that placed Little at the crime scene. The video showed Little watching the victim leave the ex-girlfriend’s apartment around 11:40 a.m. the day of the crime and walk toward his family’s home.

Little’s truck could be seen driving around the train tracks, following Weatherford, then parking nearby. Weatherford then can be seen walking along the train tracks followed by someone dressed in dark clothing, later identified as Little.

Weatherford and Little eventually walked out of the view of the cameras, but shortly afterward, Little can be seen running away from the scene of the crime and getting into his truck where he then drove off.

Little had a history of causing problems for his ex-girlfriend and any of her former partners after her and Little broke up, she said. Officers said she believed Little was the only one “crazy enough” to commit the murder.

The woman reported that she and Little dated in high school and had a child together but later broke up. Since then, Little would often harass her and her dating partners.

She said that Little had even appeared at one of her former boyfriends’ houses at 4 a.m. after tracking her phone. Little then cut break lines, sent suggestive photos of her, poured water into her car’s gas tank, and admitted to her, at one point, that he considered shooting her and the boyfriend.

Little was in the National Guard and during the weeks prior to the murder, the ex-girlfriend actually agreed to marry Little so their child could receive military benefits; but she told him she planned to continue dating Weatherford. She then told Little that if anything were to happen to Weatherford, she would suspect him.

Officers also found a rifle with a scope and bipod at Little’s house. Little bought the rifle about a month before the murder.

The medical examiner’s report revealed the bullet that killed Weatherford traveled through his backpack, a leather card holder full of several playing cards and into the victim, breaking multiple ribs before stopping in his chest.

The rifle and bullet were sent to the FBI crime lab and a firearms expert determined the bullet was from the same type of rifle found in Little’s house. Due to the damage to the bullet, the firearms expert could not confirm if the bullet definitively came from Little’s rifle.

A Tulsa County jury also found Little guilty of the first degree murder of Weatherford, but his case was vacated following the Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v Oklahoma. The case was then prosecuted in federal court.

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