Those plans, Gray said, were in place despite Bridges’ awareness of the risks to his relationship with his wife, who did not like Coffelt, and the couple’s children.

“He had some kind of chain,” Bridges said of Coffelt during his first police interview, referencing an attachment on a wallet that Coffelt kept in a pocket of his jeans. “I thought he was gonna whip me with it. I was scared and I shot him.” Later in the interview, Bridges said of his wife: “She told me ‘Never, ever let him in the house again.’ I should have listened.”

Prosecutors dismissed the case against Bridges last fall for further investigation after learning a witness told a Gang Unit officer Coffelt knew Bridges had a large amount of cash and planned to rob him.

They re-filed the case in December, and Gray said authorities who did follow-up work didn’t find anything that changed their view Bridges committed a crime.

District Judge William Musseman, who presided over the trial, denied a previous request for immunity from prosecution under Oklahoma’s Stand Your Ground laws after finding there wasn’t evidence to demonstrate Coffelt was an intruder or armed.

However, he said then that Bridges could still present a theory of self-defense in trial.