Fish, 26, was charged after the District 25 Violent Crime Task Force was able to identify some burned human remains as those of Pascale.
According to Joe Prentice, Okmulgee police chief, Fish confessed to the murder during an interview earlier in the day.The chief said the remains were found on a rural Okfuskee County property that is owned by his father. That particular piece of property contains some restricted Indian land. Because of the Indian land designation, an agent from the Bureau of Indian Affairs was called in.
"Once the discovery was made, the FBI was contacted and they processed the crime scene with the medical examiner’s forensic anthropologist," the chief said. "It became clear that the burning of the body had not occurred at that location."
He said a search warrant was issued Monday for some land west of Morris owned by Fish's parents. "During that search a burn site was located as well as additional human remains consistent with remains from the Okfuskee County site. A portion of the remains at the Morris site was positively identified by the OSBI fingerprint lab on Thursday as belonging to Joshua Pascale."
The chief said there is still, "a lot of work to do," in the case and called this a major break. "It would not have been possible without the assistance of the Violent Crime Task Force."
Fish was arrested by Okmulgee police Dec. 2 on charges of attempted unlawful delivery of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, possession of methampthetamine and possession of drug proceeds.
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