So we had him with an illegal weapon there in Dallas County. Back to Brake reading Bodens statement: Recording of Brake: We watched it go down and when it was down, we were still there for a few minutes and a car drove by and I didnt see it but Rick did. We think David recognized him from that trial in Amarillo, Recording of Brake: Heres whats interesting about the autopsy report that told me at the time how I think it transpired. The driveway is to the left, the sidewalk running along the length of the house for a few yards before the steps to the front door. The jury went on for a few days, but thats really the end of it. She found the newspaper with the requested photo, but also found what led to the months long Daily investigation into that pair of murders. The stories they told were shrouded in conspiracy theories and different ways the case was mishandled by the Norman Police Department and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Recording of Ken: So we showed them photographs and they picked Gilley We ended up with seven couples, 14 kids, that picked Gilleys picture out that claimed this had happened to them on Lovers Lane.. Recording of Brake: When he got on the elevator there, there was a Mexican boy about 18 years old on there with us, as well as another deputy. An article almost 15 years later cites the grand jurys final decision, saying, We have investigated any and all complaints against the district attorney or his office and find them without merit., Recording of Ken: Some people just couldnt believe that a police officer had done something like this and of course I didnt believe it at first. But Jacobson, never did let go of the case. But again, a guy has knowledge of firearms would pick a .22 to use, you know, all you have to worry about is that firing pin, and if you throw the gun in the river, the evidence is gone. Frank wanted you to know that he was on top of everything and that he was better than these other guys.. As he was leaving the barn about 7 a.m., he saw two men standing next to two parked cars. And its important to remember here that Gilley left the Norman police force on May 15. But there were also bullet casings, almost 30 of them, scattered in the dirt and brush. K: The phone call from the Amarillo TV station eventually prompted some case investigators to seriously look into Gilley. I was taken into his car and handcuffed to be taken to the jail, along with some of the other boys . Your chance of being a victim of violent crime in Norman is 1 in 316 and property crime is 1 in 32. Two years later, it seems like charges might be put against Gilley, but nothing is certain. The medical examiner said Byron WebMost accurate 2021 crime rates for Norman, OK. Linda, Sheryls older sister by two years, stayed at their family home in Oklahoma City with her mom. Gilley said he was not guilty. And he told me, he said if I file a case like that, itll set law enforcement back 20 years in Oklahoma., Recording of Kayla: Now what does that mean? Recording of Ken: The reason a .22 was used is because you cant do any type of ballistics on them like you can with larger guns. That was good enough for me to go after him with everything I had.. Recording of Foster: Back then a lot more of that stuff what went on. Most of the case takes place in central Oklahoma and Northern Texas, but our story begins five days earlier in Kent, Ohio, on Monday, May 4, 1970. Now you dont die right away from a wound in the lung unless there is a major artery hit. Its every single step we take in our evidence transfer or testing or anything and is logged in a computer system. My mind was, Where could I go, what couldve happened? She drove me to Norman. Six: Why Gilley was allowed to resign days after the murders? K: Back to that Tuesday in 1970: the OU protest ended peacefully, but police and residents were on edge for the rest of the week. Recording of Pearo: This case was in there. K: Gilley had a clean official record until this incident in 1968. K: Henslee talked about why Gilley left the Norman police force, saying he asked Gilley to go because the assault charges would make NPD look bad. Recording of Brake: This is a contact with the Dave Kelley, who was with the DA office in Potter County, Texas. On Nov. 21, 1990, officers were able to search Gilleys residence. Sanchez and his wife lived at the Ann Branden Boulevard apartment until October 2018, according to investigators. Yes, he had a badge in a black badge holder that was for the sheriffs office.. And they said Well Mr. Gilley, Im standing here in your living room and it looks like somebody broke into your house.. Maybe altered and those things would be extremely difficult to occur today based on the procedures that are in place.. When Davids mom arrived at the Benham house later that Sunday, Linda decided she was going to leave for Norman to see if she could help find Sheryl. In the following months, officers deliberated how best to pin Gilley down for the murders. The case becomes exceedingly complicated and twisted from here on out, so be prepared. This one kind of absorbs you. WebAccording to the most recent data from the FBI, the total crime rate in Norman is 2,867.6 per 100,000 people. Joshua Bookout. When police got there, the crime scene had been swept clean. Five days later, a few miles west of OUs campus, shots were fired again, ending the lives of two college students. And its also important to remember the climate of the time, that even though the majority of Normans community trusted law enforcement officials, the younger generation was having increasingly negative run-ins with officers, whether through protesting or individual incidents. DNA testing wasnt being used yet, so police had few options. Based on a tip, investigators discovered Sandovols decomposing body in a residential basement at 715 W Lindsey St. Detectives interviewed Miguel Munoz at the home, according to an affidavit for a search warrant. Recording of Brake: Ava Yvonne Boden, this was her statement on Nov. 14, 1970. K: By this point, it had been over a year since the murders and the small group of dedicated investigators had spent hundreds of hours on the case. Margarita Sandoval was 19 years old when family first reported her missing in 2018. The DA at the time, I told him I wanted to file kind of a lesser charge on Gilley, just so hed go to jail, because I thought hed fall to pieces in jail. The case is almost 50 years old and remains unsolved. According to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, 30-year-old Austin Blake Godwin was booked into the Cleveland County jail early Wednesday, shortly after surrendering himself at the Norman Ten-Mile Flats is the official name of the area that was home to many of Normans secluded roads, which were commonly known as Lovers Lanes. K: Sheryls dad, Ben Benham, testified, answering questions on what it was like to file a missing persons report for his daughter. Not only does the department interact with the Norman community on a more regular basis, but the hiring protocols for officers have completely changed. I didnt really want to, but I thought itll be pretty easy; I live in Midwest City and Ill drive down there and we can process that car in an hour or two. Why? Then here we can and were visiting it again, making the news again. He had a .22 caliber rifle in his locker at the Norman Police Department and also has several pistols of this caliber in his residence in Norman. Recording of Brake: Henslee, I think, after the murder happened, I think he thought right away Oh this guy might have done it and Im going to look terrible for hiring him, so lets just get him the heck out of town. So Henslee was in cover up mode at that point. Seven: How much Henslee knew but wasnt letting on? Recording of Pearo: Its bad enough in a normal murder case, I mean we know we take every murder seriously but if theres a dirty cop somewhere, that looks bad on all of us. It was like, Hey look, that case will probably never go anywhere, so forget that one, you can look at the rest of them. On Tuesday, May 5, the University of Oklahoma Student Association gathered hundreds of students to protest not only the war, but the actions of law enforcement in Ohio. Norman investigators tried to use these charges to connect Gilley with Sheryl and Daves murders, but in the end, nothing ever came of that either. They began to feel the full weight of frustration that only a couple of guys were truly working together to bring down a case held back by politics. K: Youre listening to Uncovered: The Lovers Lane Murders. My mother finally said, Ive got to call Ms. Sloan and tell her what is going on. My mother hung up the phone and said, She is on her way.. I think when you ask around about other places or just other people that are in this profession when they talk about getting hired at Norman youll learn that our process is a lot harder and a lot more scrutinizing than a lot of places We still do psychological testing. The Benhams became close with investigators, especially Ken Jacobson, the lead investigator from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. K: Ten days before Green told investigators what he knew about Gilley, they learned that multiple young couples had recently been harassed by an unknown man on lovers lanes. The Girl Scout Murders of 1977 still remains unsolved to I mean this guy was a cop and he did this stuff. Recording of Linda: I dont know how to explain that. Whether he actually knew or rather it was just oh my gosh this is embarrassing, I dont know, I think more likely the latter. Now he is not working at this time. They were spurred on by the initial evidence; the assault charge, Henslee hiring Gilley out of line with protocols and Gilley disappearing. How did you kill them? And said something like, You son of a bitch, youre not a real cop, I remember you from Amarillo, you got in trouble up there, Recording of Ken: David had a pool cue, a cut-off pool cue by the drivers door under his seat, and his friends tell us thats the first thing he drug out if there was going to be trouble. The funnel was just one instance of severe weekend weather in various parts of the U.S. Come on home. So I hung up. He said yes Do you know if Gilley owned or had in his possession any .22 caliber weapons? Ronald Lee McMullen Jr., who hails from Norman, was charged with first-degree murder after Kailee Jo McMullen was found deceased from a single gunshot wound to the face on the morning of June 29, 2017, according to a People Magazine report. The more I learned about that night, the more I realized it started off just like the fraternity parties today.
Tomahawk State Wildlife Area Fishing Report,
How To Install Mods On Wreckfest Xbox One,
Articles M