A 38-year-old Louisiana man charged with murder is free on bail after his attorney and Denton County prosecutors agreed on lowering the bond amount from $100,000 to $10,000 Friday.

Charles Oxner is charged with shooting to death Dale McGee, 46, of Lobeville, Tenn., on Wednesday night in Oxner’s recreational vehicle in Corral City.

Oxner

McGee’s brother, Landle McGee, 38, of Linden, is free on $60,000 bail on a charge of burglary with intent to commit assault. A friend of the McGee brothers, Justin Ainsworth, 26, of Collins, Miss., remains in Denton County Jail in lieu of $60,000 bail on a charge of burglary with intent to commit assault.

Landle McGee could not be reached for comment Monday and Ainsworth declined an interview.

First Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck said Oxner’s attorney, Jim Rolfe of Dallas, conferred with attorneys from the district attorney’s office, and they agreed on the bail reduction.

McGee

“The factors that we look at when contemplating bail amount — most of those pointed in his favor,” Beck said. “His work record, lack of criminal history and the circumstances as we know them today lead us to believe that there’s no evidence of there being any risk of him not appearing in court.”

Beck said the case has not been brought to the district attorney’s office yet, but when Argyle police bring in the evidence, it could be either referred to the grand jury or declined for prosecution, based on the facts presented.

“Since we have not seen the evidence, it’s too preliminary for me to say what we might do right now,” Beck said.

Argyle police and the Texas Rangers investigated the shooting. Argyle Police Chief William “Tom” Tackett said the four men worked together for a pipeline company that is laying a line across the Justin area. All four men were inside Oxner’s RV when the shooting occurred, Tackett said. He arrested all the survivors in the incident.

Oxner could not be reached for comment Monday. But in an interview Thursday, Oxner told the Denton Record-Chronicle that he reported Dale McGee to a safety officer with the company for drinking on the job more than two weeks ago.

Ainsworth

Dale McGee learned about the report, Oxner said. He was angry, but they settled their differences. On Wednesday, a company owner spoke to McGee about the drinking, Oxner said. McGee, his brother and Ainsworth walked off the job and were waiting for Oxner when he arrived home that night about 7:30, he said.

He said all three men forced their way into the RV and began beating him.

Oxner had a black eye, a bite mark on one wrist and bumps on his head during the jailhouse interview when he expressed confusion about the reason he had been arrested.

“I was on my stomach, and they were beating the hell out of the back of my head. I come up and turned my head to look, and Justin kicked me in the eye,” Oxner said in the Thursday interview.

“My gun was on the couch, and I grabbed it, and I come around with it. I had to work the chamber to get a bullet, and I was so scared I couldn’t hardly do it.”

Oxner said he fired once at Dale McGee’s foot and missed and fired again at his thigh and did not miss. He does not recall firing again, but according to the medical examiner, McGee died of “multiple” gunshot wounds.

The Argyle chief said he has not yet received a report from the medical examiner, so he does not know the number or position of the gunshot wounds. Tackett said he did not object to the bail reduction.

He hopes to get the case to the district attorney’s office this week, Tackett said.

“If the evidence leans toward self-defense, we certainly don’t want this to go on any longer than necessary,” he said. “Dale McGee can’t speak for himself anymore, and we just want to make sure we have all the facts.”

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com.