True Crime Chronicles; Covid, McGuirt ruling delays justice by complicating court proceedings in murder trial
- Dennis McCaslin
- May 30, 2025
- 3 min read
On March 18, 2019, the body of 56-year-old Roxie Lenora Phillips Fraizy was found in a creek near Valliant, Oklahoma, turning a missing persons case into a homicide investigation that gripped McCurtain County.
Faizy, last seen on January 25, 2019, at a tanning salon in Broken Bow, was discovered wrapped in a logging chain with her wrists and one leg bound by zip ties.
The investigation led to the conviction of her fiancé, Brian McMahon , whose appeal was resolved in 2024, affirming his life sentence without parole.
Roxie Faizy was born on June 26, 1962, in Mena to Sherman Dale Phillips Jr. and Ruth Valdez Phillips. Raised in Smithville, Oklahoma, she graduated from Smithville High School in 1980.
Faizy worked as a hotel manager before running her own daycare, cleaning service, and Roxie’s Ice House Grill in Idabel.
Known for her professionalism, she was passionate about cooking and hoped to enter the catering industry in retirement.
She loved tropical themes, collecting anchor and palm tree items, and had planned a trip to Fiji. Faizy was a devoted mother to her three children--Slay, Stephanie, and Zachary Faizy--and grandmother to three.
Faizy’s disappearance was reported by McMahon after she failed to attend a high school basketball tournament. Her family offered a $10,000 reward, and the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office, with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), investigated.
Her car keys were found outside her bedroom window, but her phone, last active in Broken Bow on January 25, was missing. No activity was detected on her Gmail or Amazon accounts after that date, and authorities confirmed she had not left the country.
The discovery of Faizy’s body by two passersby prompted a homicide investigation. Cell phone records placed Faizy and McMahon at their shared residence on January 25, with her phone ceasing activity that day.
Faizy’s memorial service was held on March 27, 2019, at White Family Chapel, with burial at Smithville Cemetery.
Google location data showed McMahon at the Valliant creek the day before and after her presumed death. On September 18, 2019, McMahon, then 68, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder with deliberate intent.
The trial, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, began in 2022. District Attorney Mark Matloff requested jurors visit the crime scene near the “Old Sawmill” southwest of Valliant, as photographs were inadequate.
On June 3, 2022, a McCurtain County jury convicted McMahon of first-degree murder. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered, and on July 1, 2022, he was sentenced to life without parole.
McMahon filed a notice of intent to appeal, with trial counsel withdrawing.
The appeal process encountered issues. An initial appeal was dismissed on October 20, 2022, due to an incomplete record.
McMahon applied for post-conviction relief on November 9, 2022, and a new appeal was filed by December 14, 2022. The record was completed by January 5, 2023, with McMahon’s brief submitted to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on May 16, 2023.
Supplemental records were added in August 2023, and the record was deemed complete on November 7, 2023, after addressing objections. On October 21, 2024, the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction.
McMahon’s petition for rehearing was denied on November 15, 2024, and appellate documents were returned on January 8, 2025, finalizing the appeal with the conviction upheld.
