A former inmate in the Stephens County jail was sentenced recently for killing his cellmate during his incarceration.
Walter Lee Kassanavoid, 28, of Lawton, has been sentenced to serve 360 months in federal prison for second-degree murder, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
According to published reports, after beating his cellmate to death Kassanavoid shuffled a deck of playing cards, took a shower, and got in his bunk. It would be two hours before a jailer found the body of Michael William Ford, his 57-year-old cellmate.
Kassanavoid told the FBI that he had heard voices through the vent directing him to kill Ford. The 12-minute attack was recorded on video by a jail surveillance camera.
On June 21, 2022, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Kassanavoid, charging him with first and second-degree murder.
In August 2021, Kassanavoid was incarcerated at the Stephens County Jail. The public record reflects that on August 11, 2021, Kassanavoid attempted to kill his cellmate by pressing buttons on the victim’s Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (“CPAP”) machine to try to deprive him of oxygen. The next day, Kassanavoid assaulted his cellmate for approximately 12 minutes with his hands and feet. Kassanavoid also used a medical device known as an oxygen concentrator to strike the victim, who died as a result of injuries sustained during the assault.
This case is in federal court because Kassanavoid is a member of the Comanche Nation and the crime took place within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation.
On January 3, 2024, Kassanavoid pleaded guilty to Count 2 of the Indictment and admitted he killed the victim by repeatedly striking him with his hands, feet, and medical device.
On September 30, 2024, U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Jones sentenced Kassanavoid to serve 30 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. In announcing his sentence, Judge Jones noted the serious and violent nature of Kassanavoid’s assault. Judge Jones also noted the need to punish Kassanavoid for his conduct.
The judge did not fine Kassanavoid but ordered him to pay $8,762 in restitution to the victim’s estate.
Kassanavoid lived in Lawton and worked at the Goodyear plant. Ford’s widow is suing Stephens County Commissioners, former Sheriff Wayne McKinney, the jail’s medical health provider, and Kassanavoid. A jury trial is set for March in Oklahoma City Federal Court. The lawsuit alleges that Ford was supposed to be in a cell by himself because he used a CPAP machine at night to sleep. The two were housed together because of overcrowding according to the suit.
Kassanavoid was arrested in Duncan on April 6, 2021, after shooting guns in a church parking lot. He told Stephens County Sheriff’s Deputies he had killed his dog on the highway between Lawton and Duncan, according to a court affidavit.
This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Division and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Gridley and Tiffany Edgmon prosecuted the case.