Enid Police: Man found dead in cellar lured to his own murder

ENID, Okla. (KFOR) – Four people are facing murder charges, accused of luring an Enid man to his death in hopes of trying to get information about a missing woman.

Victor Battelo, Charles Jordan, Devin Harris and Heaven Jordan are all facing first degree murder charges in connection to Colby Sheppard’s death. 

Enid Police announced Sheppard was missing back in January; saying he had last been seen at a Pizza Hut in town.

Court documents say Sheppard told his mother December 28th last year that he was going on a date with a girl December 30th. Sheppard had a court date on January 9th, but never showed up.

Sheppard’s mother also told police he had received letters from an inmate in jail letting him know people were after him and he should get out of town.

Investigators found Sheppard’s car January 10th, but not Sheppard. An acquaintance of Sheppard’s told police in June she had information on Colby’s last know location which traced back to Charles Jordan’s residence.

The acquaintance informed police Victor Battelo had told her Heaven Jordan had lured Sheppard to the house where he was beat up. The acquaintance indicated that Sheppard was beat because the suspects believed he had knowledge of Kendra Battelo’s disappearance.

Kendra Battelo is Sheppard’s ex-girlfriend and has been missing since 2022. 

The acquaintance informed police Victor told her what Sheppard had said to the suspects during the beating, that he didn’t do anything to Kendra. Victor told her he punched, kicked and stomped on Sheppard. He also told the acquaintance that he and a friend cut Sheppard’s throat and left him for dead in the back room of the residence.

“Mr. Sheppard was lured to that residence by those with the intent to do him severe harm and essentially resulted in his murder,” said Cass Rains with the Enid Police Department.

Rains said the medical examiner’s office will determine Sheppard’s cause of death but multiple witnesses in the affidavit contradict each other on just how exactly he was killed. 

It’s also made clear in the affidavit that police obtained information indicating multiple witnesses knew a crime had been committed. Since none of those witnesses have been arrested or formally charged with a crime News 4 is not identifying them. 

An acquaintance of Victor Battelo told police he confessed in having to kill Sheppard because of what he did to Kendra.

The acquaintance also said that Victor showed her a letter, that he said was written by someone in jail, and was supposed to go to Colby’s family.

Officers obtained search warrants and interviewed multiple other witnesses, and on June 11th obtained a search warrant to search Charles Jordan’s home, where the beating allegedly happened. An affidavit says OSBI was able to find traces of what police believe may be blood on the floor of the back porch of the home. The flooring was cut out, seized, and sent to OSBI for analysis.

Charles denied involvement in interviews with detectives while in custody for a different crime, but an affidavit says he used a phone to text a witness, telling him to burn a letter he allegedly wrote meant to be delivered to Colby’s family.

Documents say the letter stated that Jordan wanted $5,000 along with his court costs paid in exchange for information about Sheppard’s whereabouts. Other text messages Charles Jordan sent asked a witness to get another phone, take the SIM card out and burn it. Charles then again insisted that the letter he wrote, be burned and that “his life is in their hands.”

On August 27th, detectives received a call from an inmate claiming to have more information about Sheppard’s disappearance. The inmate said Charles Jordan had offered him money to help move Colby’s body. The inmate said Charles told him Sheppard had been beaten up pretty severely and that a witness had gotten tired of hearing Sheppard moaning and broke his neck.

It's important to note that the witness has not been charged in connection with the case, and when approached by News 4 employees for comment, the witness closed the door in their faces.

The inmate said Charles Jordan told them that he —Charles— was in charge of getting rid of Colby's body and had confessed to wrapping it up in plastic and a blanket. The inmate noted that Charles admitted to dumping Sheppard's body two streets over from his house and he needed the inmate's help to avoid it being found.

The inmate was able to identify the home as a yellow house with a garage off to the side and a storm cellar behind it, the same home authorities found human remains.

"One tip led us to perhaps bringing some sort of closure to Mr. Shepard's family and his disappearance," said Rains.

Detectives said they found the remains in a blue tarp wrapped in a blanket with rope around it; and that OSBI was called in to help process the scene.

Police say Harris admitted to standing guard during the beating outside of Jordan's home, but alleges he did not participate otherwise.

All three men appeared before a Garfield County District court judge Wednesday where their bond was denied.

Police say Heaven Jordan was arrested in Missouri for unrelated charges, has been interviewed and will be transported back to Oklahoma to face murder charges.

The investigation into Kendra Battelo's disappearance is still active, but police say they haven't found anything to connect Sheppard to it.

"There's no direct evidence or any evidence otherwise tying Mr. Sheppard to Ms. Battelo's disappearance," said Rains.

Anyone with more information is asked to contact Enid Police.