Oklahoma Man Faces Murder Charges After Fatal Marijuana Extraction Facility Explosion
An Oklahoma man is facing two counts of first-degree murder after a fatal explosion at a marijuana extraction business near Tulsa, authorities said.
Ryan Bassham, 35, turned himself in to the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 30 and was charged in connection with the blast at Solos Extracts LLC in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Fire crews were called to the scene shortly after 1 a.m. on Aug. 27, Fire Chief Jeremy Wade said, and found one worker dead inside. A second worker was critically injured and later died at a hospital. Dozens of nearby businesses were damaged.
The workers were identified as Michael Newman, 41, and Stephen Scott, 28, according to the Oklahoman, part of the USA TODAY Network. Court records say both were employees of Bassham. An attorney who could comment for him was not listed in court records.
Two months before the explosion, a neighboring business owner said he had detected extremely high levels of carbon dioxide in his own business, which shared a wall with the extraction site. The owner told investigators he warned Bassham and two employees about the readings. He also said the location had been largely inactive for several years until about six months earlier, when he noticed new workers, box trucks, and equipment arriving.
Court documents show Solos Extracts had operated legally under previous ownership, with Bassham in the process of buying the company. At the time of the blast, he was not registered in place of the prior owner and did not have a valid Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority license or Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics registration, authorities said. Because of that, an OSBI affidavit stated, Bassham was illegally manufacturing controlled dangerous substances.
The affidavit also recounted that Newman told medical personnel while being taken to a hospital that he knew the space was not ventilated enough and that he unplugged something just before the building blew up. After the explosion, investigators said, Bassham instructed associates to destroy their mobile devices and turned off his own.
Bassham was released on bond after his surrender on Aug. 30, but was arrested again the next day at another alleged illegal marijuana extraction site near Kellyville, Oklahoma. He faces additional counts of aggravated manufacturing, aggravated trafficking, and use of a firearm while committing a felony, and is being held without bond in Creek County.
An online fundraiser for Scott described him as remembered for his kindness and the way he made others smile. A memorial service for Scott was scheduled for Sept. 4 at Moore’s Southlawn Funeral Home. Funeral arrangements for Newman had not been announced.
The case has intensified scrutiny of Oklahoma’s medical marijuana extraction sector, where licensing lapses during ownership changes can leave dangerous operations running in a regulatory gray area. For the two families mourning workers who died on the job, the charges are a reminder of the deadly stakes attached to unlicensed extraction and the need for tighter oversight between the sale of a business and its first day under new management.