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. Brake lives in Oklahoma City, working part time as a public information officer for the OKC county commissioners office. 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? About 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City, the Norman Police Department responded Sunday night to storm damage on the south and eastern sides of Norman. Recording of Linda: Our family was very close, very close. K: Linda told us about her dad, overcome with anger and sadness, jumping in the car one night a few months after the murders to go find Frank Gilley himself. She talked about Sheryl like this every time we had a phone call. They checked his police car, finding that on an average night, he would drive well over 100 miles on patrol. 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. Case Number: 2023-00010701. Type in Norman, OK in the upper left address window, then click on Go to Address.. Jacobson also testified. WebCrime Statistics. K: Almost two days later, their belongings were found dropped in and around Daves car, a 1966 Pontiac GTO. Whoever did that knew about crime scenes and knew about firearms they knew what they were doing. When I googled the names of those involved, dozens of articles popped up, spanning decades. The jury went on for a few days, but thats really the end of it. 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. When it was decided the case would once again be brought to a grand jury in February 1991, the trajectory looked similar to when the murders were first investigated in the 1970s: A team of investigators followed Gilley, arrested him for a related but not directly connected charge and then a grand jury determines whether he could stand trial. Now you dont die right away from a wound in the lung unless there is a major artery hit. WebNORMAN, OKLAHOMA: The trial of a 45-year-old father, who allegedly molested and killed his daughter and then told the police that the 22-year-old accidentally shot herself, started 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. . Recording of Solorzano: Theres definitely more rules in place documented. And we think that was sort of a mistake because of what the jurors said in some of their questionnaires. K: There were clothes, a bloody blanket, hair and the roughly 30 shell casings that were all missing. His secretary had said he got mail, so we think he called that old sheriff out there and said write me a letter from Frank and date it back.. We walked into his office and we had our probable cause for the search warrant and then he kind of looked at the case and looked when it was and said, Trails kind of cold, isnt it boys? and we said yeah.. De Soto PD called him, and said Is this Mr. Gilley? and he said yeah. Recording of Brake: There was no official record at any check in Texas to indicate that Gilley had ever made contact with Sloan, officially. When we got upstairs, Mr. Gilley was filling out the paperwork on the Mexican boy and he asked the boy how much money he had and the boy said $10. Today, that house is tall and long, bricked at the bottom. 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. Most of these shots were in the upper body and head. K: 1970. The charges: One count of perjury. The murders of David Sloan and Sheryl Benham remain unsolved. It says after being acquainted with Frank Gilley, it was the opinion of this officer that Gilley is very capable of committing such an act of which he is being investigated by your department. So I wanted to file impersonating an officer and he would tell these kids he was the sheriff and the DA refused to file. Many, if not most should be considered armed and dangerous. WebFOX23 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. Well pick back up the day the bodies were found. But in March of 1970, just two months before the murders, he was hired, by police chief Bill Henslee. Recording of Pearo: You could see some of the resentment from people who are now adults still going back to their college days and being really critical on the police. Get to know their families and the rural Norman road that is just the beginning of the unsolved mystery. Two counts of first-degree murder. 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. Thats where Dave would have walked when he came to pick Sheryl up for their date Saturday night. He was taken before a grand jury in Amarillo and indicted, given a suspended sentence and put on probation for an aggravated assault charge, though it was deemed a misdemeanor. K: Thats David Pearo, the lead case investigator for the Norman Police Department in the 1990s. K: But investigators did find .22 caliber weapons in the house, however they were technically owned by Gilleys father. What do you think was the change there? They patted each other on the back, good to see you, and all that stuff. The place Dave and Sheryl went was popular, though they probably werent expecting to find any company. Well start back up with thoughts from Linda Adams, Sheryls older sister. So I go, Dad did you find Sherry? SpotCrime crime details. Other officers also took the stand, saying Gilley kept several guns in his work locker at the police department, one of which was a .22 caliber rifle with a hexagon barrel, the specific caliber of weapon used in the murders. Now he is not working at this time. And that pool cue was over on the passengers side, on the floor and it was completely wiped clean, didnt have anybodys fingerprints on it., Recording of Brake: So I think Sloan grabbed that pool cue handle and said Ill kick your ass and Gilley shot him with the handgun. Recording of Ken: Well, Id been to law enforcement academy at LSU for 90 days and I got back that Sunday, Mothers Day was going to take a couple of days off but was going by the office to get my expenses I was actually in the bank parking lot, I remember where I was, and the chief agent called me on the radio and asked if I would go to Norman to help them with a vehicle theyd recovered in a missing persons case. K: Linda lives in Oklahoma City and has multiple children of her own. Whether he actually knew or rather it was just oh my gosh this is embarrassing, I dont know, I think more likely the latter. As he was leaving the barn about 7 a.m., he saw two men standing next to two parked cars. Instead, immediately call the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department at 405-701-7700. Why?, Recording of Brake: I think Gilley was just out there trying to get a glimpse of some boobies and harass some kids like hed done many times before and runs into somebody that knew who he was.. Two: Why Henslee hadnt focused the investigation closer on Gilley from the beginning? Linda, Sheryls older sister by two years, stayed at their family home in Oklahoma City with her mom. WebCrime Map. And after almost 50 years, she said the pain is more manageable. And even though the gun turned over by Gilleys landlord wasnt the murder weapon, it gave Pearo a path to officially reopen the case. As the night hours of May 9 wear on, Sheryls dadbecomes worried. K: Police had starting investigating where Sheryl and David could have been after Sheryls dad filed the missing persons report. They took in Sheryls ex-boyfriend for questioning. Gilley said he was not guilty. Per page 1; 2; 3 > Christopher Sanders. .. On June 8, 1970, they had driven down to Norman It says Well we were on a dirt road and had pulled up toward the west to where the sun was going down.. Episode 4 crosses state lines into Dallas, Texas, where the investigation is reopened in the 1990s. 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. But Frank, from the time David got out and it was apparent that he did recognize him, theyre both from Amarillo, I mean, what are the chances of that happening?. 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. And they did a good job, far as cleaning it up and everything.. WebGet full property details, plus crime rates, environmental hazards, natural disaster risks and more at HomeDisclosure.com 145441690. It would be the publics first look at new details and theories regarding the case. Mr. Gilley asked him another question and the boy answered it. After President Richard Nixon announced plans to invade Cambodia, riots, protests and demonstrations broke out all over the country. In July, a hearing was held to determine whether the case had enough evidence to go to trial. Certain convictions you cant have to get hired at a police department. K: Gilley had a clean official record until this incident in 1968. Joshua Bookout. He brought up the likelihood that Butch Green, his former partner who died a year after the murders, was the real potential suspect. A lot of blood and congestion in the right lung from a wound in the lung. K: That was the voice of Mike Brake, the reporter from the Oklahoma Journal who covered the Sheryl Benham-David Sloan case in the early 70s. Police identified the murder suspect as Isis McMullen. Particularly a lot more nowadays than there was back in the 1970s.. They spoke to an ex-girlfriend of Davids, who said they had sometimes went to the Ten-Mile Flats area after dates. I got to know her parents very well. WebOklahoma Bookings. Web9801 DEERFIELD DR, NORMAN, OK 73026 Get a FREE Property Report for this home. Two years later, it seems like charges might be put against Gilley, but nothing is certain. This was a disappointment, but it paled in comparison to the news detectives received when they went to the OSBI to retrieve the rest of the case evidence. What we think happened is Sloan and Benham were up on the lovers lane and Gilley approached them, probably came up to David Sloan, his side of the car, and said Im the sheriff of Cleveland County, probably made David get out and talk to him. WebMost accurate 2021 crime rates for Norman, OK. When Gilley started work for the Norman police, he was described by other officers as just having shown up one day. 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. I think dad was with him for a long time with what was going on He was so honest and wanted justice done. WebForty years ago this month, Oklahoma suffered one of its most horrific murder scenes near the small town of Locust Grove. Those pressing to charge Gilley uncover what they believe to be undeniable evidence, but the stakes may have been too high for those who wished to keep Gilley from being arrested. Well we thought that was unusual because Frank lived in Amarillo.. She would drive it to work, drive it to see her friends She loved life, she loves everything that everybody did, and she looked for that in people.. 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. Except one, a few days later. I hope he died alone and a very painful death. Then Mr. Gilley said are you accusing me of stealing your $10? Pearo said investigators were discouraged by how the case was previously handled, but when they met up with original case detectives like Ken Jacobson, it was a new opportunity for collaboration. 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. WebOKLAHOMA CITY - Authorities have identified the two men shot in an apparent murder-suicide Wednesday in the backyard of a Norman home. He was only on the force for three years, mostly focused on this one case. Police are still investigating the homicides of Elijah Mothershed, his fiancee Carnesha Powell and their daughter Roshawna Stevens. And then he comes back. Were just, you just dont let it go. He told me that he still keeps an eye out for talk of the murders, mentioning in particular a message board where he saw people talking about the case. Recording of Ken: There was just like half a dozen guys on the police department that would even talk to us. 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. I think he locked them in the trunk after wounding David., Recording of Brake: I think at this point hes just got the little .22 pistol. No murder weapon, no footprints, no tire tracks. I dont fault them for trying. Recording of Brake: Well the second one, the guys at the Norman Police Department really wanted to solve the darn thing. WebNorman man arrested in connection with murder of woman found at Lake Thunderbird; Former Norman car dealer accused of tampering in criminal case; Body recovered at Lake So when I walked in there, and they say, Can we help you? And Im just here, My sister is missing and Ive just wondered, and they stopped me and go, What is her name? And when I said Sherry Benham, they turned to me and say, You need to go home. Im like, Well my dad-, No, you need to go home, now. Youre probably gonna think, how could anyone be as nave as I was. Everyone was referring to the idea that during the time of the murders, the men stuck together no matter what. 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. The case is almost 50 years old and remains unsolved. Police said the double-murder occurred late Tuesday night in this University of Oklahoma community 20 miles south of Oklahoma City. Allegations of obstruction and cover-ups have plagued the Norman Police Department in the years since the murders, but changes made hope to rectify those concerns. He agreed to give Gilley a polygraph test, unbeknownst to case investigators. But handwritten here, in Ken Jacobsons handwriting, Gilley made a verbal statement on 5-12-70 to this agent that he was personally acquainted with Sloan and had trouble with that wise punk in Amarillo two or three times.. whos who and what do I need to do to keep a job or to get that promotion. There is a picture of him in a 1969 OU yearbook with his racket. Investigators spoke with former wives of Gilleys who said he was obsessed with his former life as a cop, keeping firearms, badges, uniforms and other police paraphernalia,close by, that he had a rampant temper and always carried a gun. 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. I think before when it was brought up, I still hurt so bad and my emotions. The explanation that Gilley was being framed ended up as somewhat of the official stance of the police department. Henslee said he thought Gilley was the target of a hate plot and a smear campaign. According to newspaper articles in the Norman Transcript from that first week, David was set to graduate the upcoming December with a business administration degree and then be commissioned through the Naval ROTC. He was married multiple times and had a few children. It chronicles what Gilley called a scandal, telling detectives and reporters there was a plot against him. He was detained briefly and released. The Benhams became close with investigators, especially Ken Jacobson, the lead investigator from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. A Daily staffer began flipping through pages in our large, dusty archive books. And then we were afraid that if we didnt let him know, we wouldnt know when he was coming home. -36.90% lower than the Oklahoma violent crime rate of 458.6 per 100,000 people. One of them was Butch Green, who had ridden with Frank, who gave the statement that Frank did in fact carry a .22 rifle on duty in the car. Because those guys werent even policemen when this thing happened. Recording of Ken: Well Frank and Henslee and the sheriff were all buddies from out there and so we asked Henslee if we could take a look at that letter and he couldnt produce it. 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