TULSA — The decision by the staff of a rural newspaper to place a recording device in the county commissioners office to document suspicions of illegal meetings has resulted in a firestorm of controversy, leading to calls for several McCurtain County officials to resign immediately.

[Hear Part One of the KRMG In-Depth report on the McCurtain County scandal HERE]

Among those wanting resignations - and answers - the governor and the attorney general.

[RELATED STORY: Full audio of McCurtain County recording released by newspaper]

KRMG spoke this week with Chris Willingham, a reporter for the McCurtain Gazette-News (AKA the McCurtain Gazette) and son of its publisher, Bruce Willingham.

He said he began investigating the possibility of corruption in the sheriff’s office three years ago, and published the first in a series of articles - now numbering more than thirty - in November of 2021.

The decision to place that voice-activated recorder in the room was based on legal advice from the newspaper’s attorneys, Willingham told KRMG, and they expected to hear county business being conducted in violation of open meeting laws.

What they heard on that recording, he says, included “a murder plot, shocking racism...affairs between members - one member - of the sheriff’s department and a county commissioner in order to receive raises, mishandling of county funds.”

The targets of the murder plot, it appears, were Willingham himself, along with his father.

And that’s just the beginning of this story - KRMG will post part two on Thursday.