Tulsa Man Accused Of Motel Murder Has Lengthy Criminal Past

Tulsa Police said the man accused of killing the 70-year-old subject of a recent silver alert is no stranger to police.

Detectives said Matthew Hannah confessed to killing Gerald Hail and records show it's not Hannah's first time to be in trouble with the law.

Court records show he's been in and out of the Tulsa County jail and he's served time in prison.

According to records, Hannah's rap sheet dates back to 2004 when he was convicted of second degree rape and lewd molestation. He was 17 at the time.

Court documents show he stayed out of trouble for several years after that, but was arrested multiple times between 2009 and 2012 for drug, gun and DUI charges.

He went to prison for a year and a half for those crimes but was released early on parole supervision last March.

Just four months later he was in jail again, convicted of joyriding in a stolen car and obstructing a police officer.

For that, Hannah was sentenced to six months in the Tulsa County jail, but jail officials said Hannah was released months early, in October, for work credit hours.

Fast forward to January and Hannah is in jail once again, this time facing a first degree murder charge for the death of 70-year-old Hail.

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“It was obvious we had the right guy,” said Tulsa Police Sergeant, Dave Walker.

He said Hannah admitted to killing Hail in an east Tulsa Super 8 Tuesday.

Walker said Hail checked into the hotel by himself around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon.

He said surveillance video showed Hannah and Hail going into a room together, then, Hannah leaving alone an hour or so later.

“We got a pretty good shot of Hannah leaving and then we could follow him, in the grainy video, to the truck and then out,” Walker said.

Not long after, detectives had Hannah in custody.

Walker said Hannah confessed to shooting Hail more than once, but said Hannah's story about why the two were together in the first place doesn't make sense.

Walker: "He did give us a statement."
Tess: "But you have questions with that statement?"
Walker: "I question everything about Mr. Hannah."

Walker said Hail's family told detectives he'd gotten a call around 2:00 Tuesday afternoon and said he was going to Tulsa.

He said in the surveillance footage, it appeared Hail knew Hannah and was not scared.

Walker said Hail's family doesn't recognize the accused killer.