Alva Review-Courier -

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Patrick Murphy was convicted of killing a fellow Muscogee (Creek) Nation man in 1999 and was sentenced to die. Prosecutors say he mutilated George Jacobs and left him to bleed to death on the side of a country road about 80 miles southeast of Tulsa.

In a decision that many believe could radically redefine criminal jurisdiction across a huge swath of Oklahoma, though, a federal appeals court overturned the conviction last year. It determined the case should have been tried in federal court, not state court, because the crime occurred on land assigned to the tribe before Okl...