The Denton Police Department arrested a Krum man on a murder charge Monday for allegedly selling fentanyl that killed a man in December.
George Howard Cook II, 45, is accused of selling narcotics containing fentanyl that killed 64-year-old Mark Saltsman.
On Dec. 3, officers were dispatched to Saltsman’s home in the 800 block of North Wood Street.
Saltsman was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled in June that Saltsman’s cause of death was “mixed drug toxicity (heroin fentanyl) with diabetic ketoacidosis.”
After the medical examiner’s ruling, detectives obtained a murder arrest warrant for Cook.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law in 2023 allowing prosecutors to charge defendants with murder for supplying fentanyl that leads to a fatality.
Detectives arrested Cook at his home in Krum on Monday.
During his arrest, detectives allege Cook was in possession of heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
So, in addition to the murder warrant, he was charged with second-degree-felony possession of a controlled substance.
Cook is currently in custody at the City of Denton Jail. As of Monday evening, his bail has not yet been set.
Cook has three other pending cases in Denton County: two state-jail-felony drug possession charges from 2021 and 2022, and a third-degree-felony drug charge from 2022.
Brooke Colombo, public safety reporter
