Oops! Live son gets funeral

OKLAHOMA CITY - Charles Wyckoff and his wife had returned home after a funeral for their son when the phone rang.

"Hey, Dad," Kevin Wyckoff said.

"Huh. Well, damn boy. We just had your funeral today," his father said Monday, according to a transcript of the call provided Wednesday by the Oklahoma Corrections Department.

"Yeah, I know. I heard," Kevin Wyckoff said.

"Well, what the hell is going on?" his father asked.

Prison officials had misidentified an inmate who had hanged himself behind bars as Wyckoff. The inmate, who was buried Monday in Wyckoff's place, is believed to be Steven Howe, the Corrections Department said.

Wyckoff, 23, is serving a five-year sentence for offenses including kidnapping and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The Corrections Department had a transcript of Wyckoff's conversation with his parents because it routinely monitors inmate calls.

The younger Wyckoff said prison officials had put Howe's name on a cell where he had been moved and left his name on the cell where Howe committed suicide.

Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said investigators were trying to determine whether the two inmates switched cells without permission or if staffers made the switch without filing a report.

Both had entered the prison, the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center, on Dec. 5 and are similar in appearance, officials said.

Sequoyah County District Attorney Richard Gray said that if Howe's family agrees, his body could be exhumed next week.

During the phone call, Wyckoff also spoke to his mother.

"Kevin, I can not believe this," said his mother, whose name was not released. "We buried you today, boy."

"I understand that. It's not my fault, though," he responded.

"Okay. Somebody's in deep trouble," his mother said.

The family will not get any immediate reimbursement for the funeral expense and might have to file a claim, Massie said. "We can't just write them a check."

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