A person of interest in a 15-year-old cold case killed himself on a video call with the Oklahoma City Police Department last week.

Police were looking to talk to Michael Wayne Thomas, 54, about the 2010 death of Julie Mitchell, according to The Oklahoman. On Saturday, Mr. Thomas was in a wooded area near a Kansas casino while on the call with the police and his attorney, Ed Blau.

Mr. Thomas agreed to the interview with police only because they let him call in remotely.

“Beggars can’t always be choosers, and this is somebody we wanted to talk to, we needed to talk to. There were questions we needed to have answered by him,” OKCPD Master Sgt. Gary Knight told Oklahoma City’s KOCO-TV.

Mr. Thomas was previously interviewed about her death in 2012, since his company checkbook was found at the scene. He had placed sports bets with and played illegal poker games hosted by her husband, Teddy Mitchell, reported The Oklahoman.

Julie Mitchell was found beaten to death at home in November 2010, with her baby daughter unharmed next to her, according to the nonprofit Oklahoma Cold Cases.

OKCPD Detective Bryn Carter told another Oklahoma City station, KWTV-DV, that Mr. Thomas “didn’t give me an opportunity to ask him any questions. He controlled the conversation from start to finish. At about 40 minutes through the interview, he produced a firearm and took his own life. In 31 years on the police department doing hundreds of hundreds of interviews, I’ve never had anyone commit suicide in front of me.” 

Mr. Blau, who began representing Mr. Thomas in 2012, told The Oklahoman on Tuesday, “The phone landed right by his head so we got to hear him die, hear the death rattle. It was as shocking and horrific as you can imagine.”

Police didn’t arrest or charge Mr. Thomas over the course of their investigation, nor have they charged or arrested anyone else in connection to Mitchell’s death, according to KWTV.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.