Oklahoma ME identifies Donella Zukosky as body found in Pittsburg County, Chris Winters charged
An Oklahoma woman’s body has been identified as the body found in Pittsburg County on Wednesday after an anonymous tip linked the murder to Chris Winters, who was being held on drug related charges.
Donella Zukosky
Donella Zukosky, 26, of Haileyville has been identified by the state’s Medical Examiner’s office and investigators confirmed they located Zukosky’s body after an anonymous tipster told them Winters knew what happened to Zukosky.
Winters was arrested on drug charges earlier in the week and during an interview admitted to burying Zukosky’s body in a wooded area outside Indianola.
Zukosky had been missing since October.
The case had been added to the National Crime Information Center computer system as a missing person. The family had appealed to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for assistance in the search.
Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris a call from a witness Jan. 10 that claimed to have information regarding the disappearance of Zukosky.
McAlester News detailed how the witness told Morris that Winters told the witness on Oct. 22 it was an accident and that Winters did not kill Zukosky.
After Zukosky was reported missing the witness wanted to tell someone, but was scared. Morris knew the witness for a number of years and the witness felt comfortable contacting Morris after he took office as sheriff.
The information led Morris and Detective Max Clark to the gravesite.
Winters told the sheriff and detective that Zukosky’s death was an accident and that she overdosed. The account states that “The pair went back to the suspect’s house and did some methamphetamine and Zukosky went to bed around midnight, Winters told investigators. Winters said he went to bed at 4 a.m. and told Morris something didn’t feel right and Zukosky was being way too still. He touched her and Zukosky was cold.”
Winters panicked, wrapped Zukosky in plastic and drove to the northwest end of the county and buried her.
“The last time I saw her was on October 18,” her father Bo said back in November. “We had a good time together. We went to the lake and looked for arrowheads.”
He said the next day his daughter told him she was going to visit a friend who lived down the street.
“She said she’d be back in about three hours,” “Bo” Zukosky said. He said that’s the last time he saw her.
Zukosky was a mother to two little girls.
