George Howard Cook II, 45, is accused of selling narcotics containing fentanyl to 64-year-old Mark Saltsman, who died in December.
DENTON, Texas — A Denton County man has been arrested on murder and drug charges following a Denton police investigation into a fatal fentanyl overdose late last year, authorities said Monday.
George Howard Cook II, 45, of Krum, is accused of selling narcotics containing fentanyl to 64-year-old Mark Saltsman, who was found unresponsive in his home in the 800 block of N. Wood Street on Dec. 3, 2024. Saltsman was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Denton police, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled Saltsman’s cause of death as “mixed drug toxicity (heroin and fentanyl) with diabetic ketoacidosis.”
After receiving the medical examiner’s ruling in June, detectives obtained a murder warrant for Cook. He was arrested at his home on Monday.
Officials can charge Cook with murder due to a law that was passed in 2023, allowing murder charges for anyone who supplies or delivers fentanyl, resulting in death.
At the time of his arrest, police say Cook was in possession of heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamines. He now faces an additional charge of possession of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony.
Cook is currently being held in the City of Denton Jail. His bond has not yet been set.