murders in norman, oklahoma

Now, Gilley was living in Amarillo, presumably with his parents, Jacobson told us. They checked his police car, finding that on an average night, he would drive well over 100 miles on patrol. WebIf you reside in Norman, then there is a 1 in 321 chance that you will experience a violent crime. The sawed-off shotgun allowed them to arrest him for an illegal weapons charge, but eventually he was released to go home in Desoto, Texas. Episode 1 Recording of Pearo: Frank had rented a house from this guy and he brings in this .22 caliber rifle.. Recording of Linda: This was one of the weirdest things ever. Instead call the Cleveland County Sheriff at 405-701-7700. Everytime I just about get it out of my head, somebody calls and says weve got a guy that thinks hes got the gun. And they are locked in the trunk now, what are they going to do. When I googled the names of those involved, dozens of articles popped up, spanning decades. He agreed to give Gilley a polygraph test, unbeknownst to case investigators. I hope you do. But then, he got pretty far but not real far, and started thinking. Another unsolved case is that of 2-year-old Riah Thomas. Hes got a big smile, seems confident. Police reported that in 2018 Sandoval described Sanchez as her brother and that he and his wife were abusing her. My mom, of course, is there, and I was there with her. Its just that willingness to listen and to take action on those things.. SpotCrime crime details. Maybe the war protesters from earlier that week had started rioting. Before Green died, Gilley had come back to investigators claiming that Green had something to do with the murders of Sheryl and David. There was every bit of circumstantial case you could have wanted to the point of you have to ask, who else in the world could have done it? And now I can talk about it without breaking down and crying. Many, if not most should be considered armed and dangerous. A Norman man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a Wellston woman whose remains were found at Lake Thunderbird, the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation reported Wednesday. David came to OU as a student from Amarillo, Texas, in 1966. We were told he had been living in a nursing home. K: Police had starting investigating where Sheryl and David could have been after Sheryls dad filed the missing persons report. During the May 14 search of Sanchezs home, authorities made contact with Sanchez near his garage. What more do you want me to say?, Recording of Linda: What all he did to how many people after Sherry and Dave? There arent families like that now, I dont think. Did you ever see Gilley with any type of badge other than the one he had? I think he started his lovers lane harassment and I think David recognized him. Most of those who were involved in the case have died, but my team and I were able to track down individuals who remember first-hand what happened all those years ago. Why that change?, Recording of Foster: Its just due to the public pressures on things and us relooking at things and listening to the public go Oh yeah yeah, that does make sense, that would be a lot better. Gilley was brought in to the Amarillo police station and had his mug shots taken. He was working as a recent recruit to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in 1970 and was assigned to the case full time. K: Youre listening to Uncovered: the Lovers Lane Murders. 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. Norman violent crime is 14.7. The OSBI later identified the K: Thats Chip Minty, a reporter at The Oklahoman who covered the trial, describing Gilleys demeanor on Oct. 21, 1991, as jurors were picked. Here, Linda, K: NPD responded to public criticism of its officers over the years, said. NORMAN, Okla. - Special agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation have arrested a man in connection to the murder of a woman who was found at Lake Thunderbird. Recording of Linda: When I walked into that courtroom in Norman and he was sitting right there, and I was, you know, a foot away from him and saw his face, I just *sharp inhale* Oh God.. That's 22.24% higher than the national rate of 2,346.0 per 100,000 people Instead, immediately call the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department at 405-701-7700. Keep in mind that they had been at a fraternity party at the SAE house. Its seized, its packaged. When I first heard that, there was a little bit of shock and, as I read further, a little bit of intrigue. And if he did know, what did he think when investigators were first tipped off by an Amarillo reporter to look into Gilley as a possible suspect in the murders of Sheryl and Dave? NORMAN, Okla. - Special agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation have arrested a man in connection to the murder of a woman who was found at Lake Thunderbird. NORMAN, Okla. (KOKH) Police identified the suspect in a homicide and officer-involved shooting in Norman that happened earlier this month. FOX23 spoke with survivors who are just grateful to be alive following Sundays EF-2 tornado that ripped through Norman at around 9:20 p.m. Munoz told detectives he moved into the home in 2019, and allowed a friend, Octavio Sanchez, 34, to store items in the basement. 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. I asked him why and he relayed to me that when he was in Amarillo, he went and would bust the parkers up and make them get out of the car and harass them and then let them go. K: Brake had the actual statements that Jacobson is referring to, from when Butch was questioned by investigators on Nov. 24, 1970. Thousands gathered for a demonstration on the Kent State University campus in Ohio. Recording of Ken: Henslee set it up and at that time, we werent sure if Henslee was for us or against us. -36.90% lower than the Oklahoma violent crime rate of 458.6 per 100,000 people. It was us that broke into your house and youre under arrest. So he started looking around and he looked at me and he said, Where are you from? and I said Norman, Oklahoma. And he said I thought so.. Believed under the right circumstances, especially if the possibility of discovery were probable, that Gilley would not hesitate to kill a person or persons to help cover an illegal act he was committingThis is also from Sheriff Johnston, Randall County Texas, where Gilley worked at one point. Im Kayla Branch. 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. The police department brought in dozens of suspects, potential witnesses, family members and friends to interview. Theyd see Gilleys pictures in the papers, on TV Amarillos not that big of a town. The explanation that Gilley was being framed ended up as somewhat of the official stance of the police department. K: Gilley had a clean official record until this incident in 1968. Recording of Pearo: So what we had done in retrospect was probably a mistake. Today, that house is tall and long, bricked at the bottom. Yeah we should do that. Recording of Ken: It turns out, there werent that many people working toward the same goal., Recording of Brake: Frank Gilley did it. Recording of Ken: As far as physical evidence, evidence is required to sustain a murder conviction, we didnt have any. And now I can talk about it without breaking down and crying. Bill Maher funeral home. But Jacobson, never did let go of the case. College students going out together, laughing with friends, looking forward to the future. He probably has a .22 pistol. Pearo also testified, noting that almost all the evidence from the crime scene had disappeared, except one bullet casing. It was another disappointing end again.. We had talked about wanting to devote resources to an investigative piece, and what unfolded left us determined to tell the stories of not only of those who died, but really about those who spent their lives with the case and how police at the local and state level conduct investigations. Im writing this in hopes that some of the people receiving this letter can provide answers, he typed. She looks like she died almost immediately. I think he just thought it was embarrassing to have the guy being investigated.. While Sandoval lived with Sanchez and his wife, there were multiple reports filed with law enforcement and state agencies, investigators said. Sherry and I, yes. I think before when it was brought up, I still hurt so bad and my emotions. And they said Well Mr. Gilley, Im standing here in your living room and it looks like somebody broke into your house.. Pearo retired in 2004 and moved to Florida where he spends time scuba diving. Recording of Linda: He looked at my mom and said, Sue, Im going after him and theyre not going to do anything, and he got his truck and took off and I know he had a rifle. The call came from a TV station in Amarillo, Texas, a few days after the murders. 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. The boy had been dropped off at a party in late May or early June 1968, and later in the evening he got into a fight until Gilley pulled him off. Certain convictions you cant have to get hired at a police department. Not only does the department interact with the Norman community on a more regular basis, but the hiring protocols for officers have completely changed. K: After finding the car and the bodies, officers from all of the agencies came together to sweep the area. On the following Wednesday and Thursday, funerals were held. 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. Investigators believed they reached a tipping point in March of 1971 when they persuaded the district attorney to bring Gilley in on charges of impersonating an officer in connection with the statements given to police by the various teen couples. Potter County, where Gilley was working directly before he came to Norman, covers the northern half of Amarillo. He told Rick that it would cost us a $20 fine each or he would have to take us down As he was leaning up against the car, he asked me, and this was one of the first things he said, eh asked me if Rick and I had ever gone all the way together or something like that. When Gilley started work for the Norman police, he was described by other officers as just having shown up one day. Gilleys attorney, Robert Perrine, said most of the evidence was not conclusive. We announced that we were going to go for the death penalty on those cases because of the circumstances. They stayed at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house for a few hours, hanging out with friends. You know and Frank and David were both described as hotheads and so you put two hotheads together I think Frank his only choice was to shoot him to protect himself and then Sherry probably just did whatever he wanted her to do., Recording of Brake: heek. Lets go! Well, they did find her. Two years later, it seems like charges might be put against Gilley, but nothing is certain. K: Jacobson left the OSBI almost a year later. Recording of Ken: I dont know. So I think in this case, at least from what Ive been able to read about it, there were a lot of questions about things disappearing or not being there. The medical examiner said Byron Mr. Gilley asked him another question and the boy answered it. He was found to not be involved with the case at all. Recording of Brake: He told me that if anyone asked me about a .22 rifle, which he might own, to tell them no. He told my mother, Then I remembered, I still got you, I still got Linda and I still got Steve. So he drove back home.. 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. I said my dad has been in Norman all day. But as 1970 wore on, other facts started showing up that were strange, Jacobson told us, describing them as being too many coincidences to not be connected. 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. Hes reading a statement from a boy in Amarillo who witnessed a crucial altercation involving Frank Gilley. The OU Daily, in a new podcast series called Uncovered, investigated a pair of murders that took place May 9, 1970 in Norman. Any kind of doubt that he could create was important to him. I was taken into his car and handcuffed to be taken to the jail, along with some of the other boys . There is a picture of him in a 1969 OU yearbook with his racket. FOX23 spoke with survivors who are just grateful to be alive following Sundays EF-2 tornado that ripped through Norman at around 9:20 p.m. On March 8, 1972, the grand jury met for the first time in Cleveland County to listen to witness testimonies and decide if there were any charges that could be filed against Gilley or if there was mishandling they could hold the local law agencies accountable for. K: Almost two days later, their belongings were found dropped in and around Daves car, a 1966 Pontiac GTO. Pearo and Jacobson worked closely at times, and as Pearo found out more about the case, his determination to give Sheryl and David justice mimicked his predecessor. Sheryl met David Sloan at Steak and Ale, a restaurant in Oklahoma City where they both worked. Gilley said he had never met Sloan. K: Lubbock and Amarillo are nearly two hours away from each other. Two decades had gone by and the investigators werent going to gather much more than they already had, Ken Jacobson, the 1970s OSBI investigator, said. He asked me if Id ever had sexual intercourse. The only thing we had to work with was the shell casing that had been ejected, and the firing pin makes a distinct impression on the shell casing, and this one was unusual But we could never match them. He moved to Edmond as an administrator for the Edmond Police Department and died in May 1999. Recording of Ken: But we jumped in the car in Oklahoma City and drove out to Lubbock, drove all night. The state Medical Examiners Office confirmed the body as that of Sandoval. Recording of Linda: Our family was very close, very close. I think dad was with him for a long time with what was going on He was so honest and wanted justice done. They take that very seriously because they testify to that in court as to who exactly has touched that piece of property, analyzed it, when it left to go to OSBI, when it returned. 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. As the night hours of May 9 wear on, Sheryls dadbecomes worried. K: Ballistics tests had come back negative for guns collected from a search of Gilleys home in November 1990, when officers found a sawed-off shotgun and tried to connect it with the murders of David and Sheryl. I did not see the flashlight myself, but as he was shoving me out the door, my head hit the door. Described as ornery but well-liked and friendly, he was on a tennis scholarship for his first two years. What do you think was the change there? They just couldnt get past the death penalty portion., Recording of Brake: I think there were people on that jury who said I believe he did it but I can not send him to the electric chair When NPD first contacted me back then and said they were going to try and revitalize the case and they started running through all the material again, I remember sitting down there in the homicide office down in Norman with the file sitting on the desk between us saying Its great what you guys are doing but I dont think you can nail him. WebHome / Select Cities / 2023 Comparing Bakersfield, CA vs. Norman, OK 2023 Compare Crime Rates: Bakersfield, CA vs Norman, OK Change Cities : Bakersfield, CA: Norman, OK: United States Violent Crime: 24: 14.7: 22.7 Property Crime: 60: 40.9: 35.4: The Crime Indices range from 1 (low crime) to 100 (high crime). WebCrime in Norman, Oklahoma. Recording of Sarah: And I think even evidence management is like a totally different ball game in the sense of how we now use a locker system. Recording of Brake: He answered the relevant question truthful. Having a conversation with Gilley in reference to his activities when he was a deputy sheriff in Amarillo, he told me of several investigations he had made and also relayed to me that during patrolling for our police department, he asked where any parkers went. Recording of Ken: Im thrilled that somebody is still interested enough in it to try to put something together, thats why I didnt hesitate to meet with yall. Recording of Linda: I thought whoopie, OK good, fine, you know? Gilleys parents testified he was at his home the night of the murders, but his former wife said she couldnt confirm where he was that night. David was shot 11 times and Sheryl 14. K: Most of these testimonies didnt come as a shock to those intimately involved with the case. K: Investigators on the case soon discovered that Gilley had been hired by Henslee without a background check or fingerprints taken, which we were told were normal hiring steps at the time. Fraternity parties always being what they were, I suspect David had a few beers., Recording of Jacobson: They tell us David was a hot head and David said youre not the sheriff. Henslee said he had fired Gilley a few days after the murders because of the tip that Gilley liked to harass couples on lovers lanes, but also said he had never seen any physical evidence to this day that ties Gilley to the crime., Recording of Ken: One of the comments Henslee made was that he didnt have enough power to influence a murder investigation. You know they were sort of at least at peace, at least a little bit. K: But investigators did find .22 caliber weapons in the house, however they were technically owned by Gilleys father. Due to the current status of the case, information is limited at this time, Jensen said. A monthslong extradition fight began, ending in May 1991 with Gilley being brought to the Cleveland County jail. Recording of Pearo: Its always a let down. Ended up, I dont know how many days and nights we first worked on that, several, and now 48 years later, its terrible.. It was private enough for young couples to park their cars and be intimate. Particularly a lot more nowadays than there was back in the 1970s.. Grady. Not only does the department interact with the Norman community on a more regular basis, but the hiring protocols for officers have completely changed. Said if I went out in the woods and took off all my clothes, he wouldnt take me to jail.. We still do a complete background on these people talking to everybody looking at everything. K: The Norman Police Department also changed its evidence protocols, said Sarah Jensen, the public information officer for NPD. So we had him with an illegal weapon there in Dallas County. K: The lost evidence and the hiring of Gilley in the first place played major roles in the Benham-Sloan case, but so did the alleged obstruction by the various law enforcement agencies. He called us one night and said Franks agreed to take a polygraph and were going to do it in Lubbock. And its important to remember here that Gilley left the Norman police force on May 15. When the husband went to court, it was speculated that Gilley was involved, that maybe he had tipped off the husband to the affair. WebMost accurate 2021 crime rates for Norman, OK. Your chance of being a victim of violent crime in Norman is 1 in 316 and property crime is 1 in 32. Address: 6400 BLOCK OF 36TH AVENUE NW, Norman, OK. View Source Square with arrow pointing upper right. He gets the rifle, which is a high capacity rifle, a .22 rifle might have a magazine of 22 rounds or more. Two: Why Henslee hadnt focused the investigation closer on Gilley from the beginning? Pearo and his fellow investigators would drive to Dallas frequently, watching Gilleys house, following him to work, trying to put together enough evidence to arrest him. 36Th AVENUE NW, Norman, then I remembered, I dont think this time, we have! Bureau of Investigation in 1970 and was assigned to the current status of evidence. 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