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. Recording of Pearo: And he told us where hed gotten it. Date: 2/28 #1 DRIVING W/ LICENSE CANC/SUSP/REVOKED. A lot of blood and congestion in the right lung from a wound in the lung. I think he just thought it was embarrassing to have the guy being investigated.. He said the politics were too much, that true policing was impossible because of it. Pearo retired in 2004 and moved to Florida where he spends time scuba diving. On Nov. 21, 1990, officers were able to search Gilleys residence. And theres probably a million cases like that This one is really unique in that it involved a police officer and I think that if we had had 100 percent cooperation from the get go, that we could have cleared it., K: It wasnt until 1972 that the case seemed like it might pick back up again. 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. They walked up and down the field, finding a few things more bullets, mostly. 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. This incident is alleged to have happened in early June. I did not see the flashlight myself, but as he was shoving me out the door, my head hit the door. I think when he came back he stood back and fired a couple rounds in the side of the car to see if they were still in there and alive and he probably heard them oh please you know and he popped the trunk and started killing. View on Google Maps Street View. 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. 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. WebGet full property details, plus crime rates, environmental hazards, natural disaster risks and more at HomeDisclosure.com 145441690. Now this detail, the assault charge, is crucial because case investigators used it to show that Gilley should never have been hired by the Norman Police Department in the first place. Sheryl met David Sloan at Steak and Ale, a restaurant in Oklahoma City where they both worked. WebMost accurate 2021 crime rates for Norman, OK. NOTES: GRADY CO Except one, a few days later. They had broken up a few months before, but Jacobson said he just wasnt the type to commit a murder. WebOn Feb. 13, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation opened a suspicious death investigation after remains were found at the lake in Norman. 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. 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. And so were not letting that go. K: Four days later, Pearo and other officers arrested Gilley at the auto parts store where he worked and booked him once again into the Dallas County jail. Before she left that house, she turned to my mother and said, Here mom, heres your Mothers Day present early the next day was Mothers Day. He then cut the body up into a hundred pieces and cooked and ate from them for days. WebCrime in Norman, Oklahoma. They didnt know anyone new was being hired. That's 22.24% higher than the national rate of 2,346.0 per 100,000 people Its just that willingness to listen and to take action on those things.. Yes, he had a badge in a black badge holder that was for the sheriffs office.. 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. He brought up the likelihood that Butch Green, his former partner who died a year after the murders, was the real potential suspect. Uncovered: The Lovers Lane Murders is a five-part investigative podcast into the murders of two teenagers in Norman, Oklahoma in 1970. Sheryls family started thinking of possibilities of what could have happened. 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. Plus the chief added some automatic disqualifiers to that on drug usage, domestic issues that you may have that will automatically disqualify you from our process. They were spurred on by the initial evidence; the assault charge, Henslee hiring Gilley out of line with protocols and Gilley disappearing. 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. Those types of safeguards are in place. K: Welcome back to Uncovered: The Lovers Lane Murders. He asked me if Id ever had sexual intercourse. K: There was plenty of evidence in the case right after the murders happened that today would have most likely garnered a conviction through DNA testing, said Jordan Solorzano, the public information officer at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. That's -25.38% lower than the national rate of 387.8 per 100,000 people. They arrested a man who was picked up on the side of the road in a different town because someone reported him as having blood on his clothes. He showed us this information he had collected over the years. Some personal belongings had been strewn around the car, like a bracelet Ken Jacobson, the OSBI investigator from earlier, found and gave back to Sheryls parents. Crime Rate per 100,000 Pop. Now detectives believed themselves to be without any physical evidence. Thats what I wish., Recording of Linda: Oh hey, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, it was so hard for me. Because those guys werent even policemen when this thing happened. The last known report was on April 16, 2018, investigators said. Said if I went out in the woods and took off all my clothes, he wouldnt take me to jail.. Hundreds of thousands of college students were protesting the Vietnam War. The place Dave and Sheryl went was popular, though they probably werent expecting to find any company. And your first thought is Good! He questioned witnesses intensely, returning again and again to the lack of physical evidence and the 20-year gap between the murders and the trial that might affect recollections of what happened. Recording of Pearo: So we went to De Soto, went in his house, we found a gun safe in his house that we couldnt get in to Frank was at work, so we got a locksmith to come out and get us in the safe. No murder weapon, no footprints, no tire tracks. K: A few days in, the couples that identified Gilley in 1970 as the man who harassed them on Lovers Lanes told the grand jury Gilley had mentioned the murders of David and Sheryl to them when he approached their cars. K: Boden and her date Rick had been west of Norman, in the same area that David and Sheryl were just 30 days earlier. Recording of Ken: It turns out, there werent that many people working toward the same goal., Recording of Brake: Frank Gilley did it. Then the boy said you didnt put down my $10. Recording of Linda: I would just love to look him straight in the face and say What happened? A woman who was a clerk for NPD in 1970, said Gilley was in the office around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, within a few hours of the murders, and acted unusual. 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. K: Next time on Uncovered: The Lovers Lane Murders. Perrine put in dozens of requests, ranging from declaring a mistrial to requesting that words like grotesque not be allowed in the courtroom. But agents like Ken Jacobson didnt believe that and kept investigating. Why? Every issue theyve had including internal affairs investigations at the current agencies theyre with, talking to officers that they work with those agencies also and friends neighbors and things to see if anything else comes up. Keep in mind that they had been at a fraternity party at the SAE house. WebUPDATE: Two people killed during shooting in Norman residential area, police say possible murder-suicide MAPS 4 planning improvements for OKC parks Local News / Feb 21, 2023 So theres checks and balances to make sure the stuff isnt happening. We were told he had been living in a nursing home. But in March of 1970, just two months before the murders, he was hired, by police chief Bill Henslee. Davids fraternity went out to search the field as well, but they didnt find anything helpful. K: 1970. Recording of Foster: One, we have basic requirements of age. Around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, police were called to reports of a shooting in the Henslee claimed that he had gotten a letter of recommendation from one of Gilleys old bosses, but OSBI agent Ken Jacobson said when case detectives asked him to show them the letter, he couldnt find it. Recording of Ken: Henslee set it up and at that time, we werent sure if Henslee was for us or against us. He was working as a recent recruit to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in 1970 and was assigned to the case full time. And then he said something about Well you couldnt even convict him again or something like that. K: Perrine also focused on technicalities, like Gilley not being read his Miranda Rights at certain points or the lawfulness of using testimony from witnesses who had died before the trial started. But Jacobson, never did let go of the case. Recording of Pearo: Because of the way it was handled back in the 70s and the fact that the main suspect had been a Norman officer. 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.. A monthslong extradition fight began, ending in May 1991 with Gilley being brought to the Cleveland County jail. As he was leaving the barn about 7 a.m., he saw two men standing next to two parked cars. Any kind of doubt that he could create was important to him. K: Youre listening to Uncovered: the Lovers Lane Murders. Well pick back up the day the bodies were found. 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. 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. K: The new team of investigators led by Pearo took the gun and ran tests, but it came back without a match. Frank wanted you to know that he was on top of everything and that he was better than these other guys.. Recording of Linda: This was one of the weirdest things ever. Sloans ex-girlfriend, who helped find the car after Ben Benham reported his daughter missing, told the jury she drove to the lovers lane area and happened upon the car, but left and reported it to police when she realized there was blood in the front seat and she smelled what she described in news articles as the smell of death. The medical examiner explained in detail how Dave and Sheryl died, both shot over 10 times, including bullets fired directly into each of their eyes. K: Linda lives in Oklahoma City and has multiple children of her own. .. 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.. But one officer leaves just four days after the murders. Badge was in a black holder. The Hippie Era was still blazing, but now, the kids coming of age had become increasingly politically active. Certain convictions you cant have to get hired at a police department. WebIn 2019, Oklahoma law enforcement reported 249 murders. Recording of Ken: Its amazing to me the interest thats continued in this case. It was really hard for them when we told them we were reopening the case again because it had been so long and sort of accepted the fact as much as they could. 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. And even though the gun turned over by Gilleys landlord wasnt the murder weapon, it gave Pearo a path to officially reopen the case. We announced that we were going to go for the death penalty on those cases because of the circumstances. He spoke of other things he usually did on weekends, like playing card games with friends. It was a much smaller department then, often only a few police officers would be out patrolling the city at a time. Recording of Foster: Back then a lot more of that stuff what went on. Rarely did he make any type of gestures that would draw any interest.He was quiet and he didnt do anything to call attention to himself.. 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. 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. 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. He was detained briefly and released. 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. Just after 3 p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to a 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.. Joshua Bookout. It was the summer after Woodstock and Americas counterculture was thriving. 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. Sanchez was charged with possession of a firearm after a former felony conviction. According to articles, testimonies and interviews, Henslee was worried. WebCBS News Six people were killed in a series of shootings Friday in northwestern Mississippi, authorities said. Pearo also testified, noting that almost all the evidence from the crime scene had disappeared, except one bullet casing. 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. He spoke of how Gilley admitted to him he did know David before the murders, though Gilley previously testified he had never met David. That was good enough for me to go after him with everything I had.. JOSEPH WAYNE McCOOL 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. He hoped to become director of the OSBI, Jacobson said, and a mark like this on someones record could derail a rising career. But amid the chaos, David Sloan and Sheryl Benham were preparing for a date. Today, that house is tall and long, bricked at the bottom. Be Your chance of being a victim of violent crime in Norman is 1 in 316 and property crime is 1 in 32. WebIn April 2004, the Oklahoma Senate, by a vote of 38 to 7, and the Oklahoma House of Representatives, by a vote of 92 to 4, approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.On November 2, 2004, Oklahoma voters approved Oklahoma Question 711, a constitutional amendment which banned same-sex marriage and any "legal incidents He might have fired most of the ammunition from it already and he doesnt have the firepower to kill them both. K: Sheryls dad, Ben Benham, testified, answering questions on what it was like to file a missing persons report for his daughter. Months went by without a response or a jury. 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. DALLAS -- A 56-year-old former Oklahoma policeman has been arrested and charged with killing two University of Oklahoma students on a rural lovers lane more than 20 years ago. They began surveillance on Gilley, finding out where he lived now, following him to work. WebNORMAN, Okla. Police have identified the two people killed in a double-homicide in Norman. And inside the trunk were the bodies of David and Sheryl, shot and mutilated. Some guy said that to me and I kinda went off on him a little bit.. I think before when it was brought up, I still hurt so bad and my emotions. We got out there and the polygrapher is an old Texas Ranger, one of Hensleys buddies. I think he started his lovers lane harassment and I think David recognized him. K: For Ken Jacobson, that was his introduction to the murders of Sheryl Benham and David Sloan. Lets go! Well, they did find her. The National Guard was called in to contain the crowd, and shots were fired when students wouldnt disperse. 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. What do you think was the change there?, Recording of Linda: I dont know how to explain that. She did have a couple of chest wounds, but there was not a lot of bleeding internally in that. This meant that investigators were not only working a difficult case, but also working against bosses and colleagues, politics and public perception. Five days later, a few miles west of OUs campus, shots were fired again, ending the lives of two college students. Two days later, testimony began. When you read Davids autopsy report, you find massive right hemoral thorax. 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. Recording of Ken: Its my opinion that there were a lot of folks working against us. Recording of Pearo: Ken never gave up on the case. Come on home. So I hung up. K: He told us about finding the old case information from the murders and becoming interested. College students going out together, laughing with friends, looking forward to the future. The initial investigation putters out after obstruction from local law enforcement agencies. 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. So you can get on our little system and see where something is so if something goes missing and then you would have the person transferring the evidence or the criminal list that has the evidence so something goes missing, it would be pretty easy to go in there and pinpoint. K: NPD responded to public criticism of its officers over the years, said Major Kevin Foster. On the last day of the pretrial, one of the most interesting pieces of evidence emerged, though it was never corroborated, when a new witness was called to the stand. Its not that we know everything and that the other side of that is us hearing it but its that the public is coming to us and telling us because in the past, a lot of people didnt, it didnt affect them they didnt care or if it was affecting them they was too afraid to come to the police because theys like Ill just be in more trouble if I try to tell them were doing some wrong. And theyre almost all headshots at that point. Investigators said Sandoval was last known to be alive and residing with Sanchez and his wife in an apartment in the 1600 block of Ann Branden Boulevard. Re-reading articles and court documents, its clear he challenged every step of the trial. Words he said he believes she would have said.. He was part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. K: Thats David Pearo, the lead case investigator for the Norman Police Department in the 1990s. Benham did write the letter on May 11, 1971, exactly one year after the body of his daughter and her date were found in the trunk of Daves car. -36.90% lower than the Oklahoma violent crime rate of 458.6 per 100,000 people. K: Gilley rushed home to a frenzy of officers. Police said the double-murder occurred late Tuesday night in this University of Oklahoma community 20 miles south of Oklahoma City. Recording of Brake: He contacted somebody here, said theres a guy in your town there who was a bad apple out here, who is known for messing with Lovers Lane couples, and they started checking into him and found out he is on probation and shouldnt have ever been hired by the Norman Police Department in the first place., Recording of Ken: Frank made a couple of comments to me after the bodies were taken out of the car. To call Ms. Sloan and tell her what is going on were the... 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