Crime at 6400 BLOCK OF 36TH AVENUE NW on 02/19/2023 1:20 PM. 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. Its seized, its packaged. NORMAN Cory Jay Bodily was killed in 2008. Hogue is now charged with first-degree murder in her sons death. 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. 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.. 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. I hope he died alone and a very painful death. 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. WebCrime Statistics. NORMAN Investigators arrested a man in connection with the death of a woman whose remains were found at Lake Thunderbird last Monday. He was going to drive to Amarillo, Texas, and kill him. Theres a large backyard shaded by multiple trees. Per page 1; 2; 3 > Christopher Sanders. After 20 years, they couldnt see putting a guy to death. He then jumped up and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, shoved him against the wall and banged the boys head against the wall several times.. They were spurred on by the initial evidence; the assault charge, Henslee hiring Gilley out of line with protocols and Gilley disappearing. Once completed, we will present the case to the District Attorneys office, who will review the case and file the appropriate charges., Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Did Henslee know about the assault charge? The next few days were chaos. They believe the incident started before Gilleys NPD shift started around midnight Saturday. K: In the search warrant, officers claimed that Gilley likely still had possession of items from the crime scene, like Davids shoes and car keys, a scrapbook of newspaper articles and personal photos of the scene and possibly the murder weapon. 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. He showed us this information he had collected over the years. So we got Ken involved and he became really instrumental in being able to help us out with kind of what happened back in the beginning, how the case got convoluted into this big cover up thing by the then chief of police.. K: The new team of investigators led by Pearo took the gun and ran tests, but it came back without a match. 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? Davids fraternity went out to search the field as well, but they didnt find anything helpful. Then here we can and were visiting it again, making the news again. Three, four and five: Why before Gilley was hired, he didnt take a polygraph test, have a background check or enter his fingerprints into the system? Henslee is quoted saying this in multiple articles and testimonies. Recording of Linda: When something like this happens, you feel like, What could I do? And the neighbor across the street had gone to OU So I called her and explained that you know Sherry went on this date last night, and she isnt home yet. A daughter of an ex-wife said Gilley told her he had killed someone and kept a diary of old cases with pictures of dead bodies. K: He kept the Benhams updated on the case. But when you cant because of the way things are done, thats hard.. K: Next time on Uncovered: The Lovers Lane Murders. She talked about Sheryl like this every time we had a phone call. A tight knit group. 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. 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. K: From interviews, news articles and court documents, we were able to piece together an outline of that night. I dont anymore. And then we were afraid that if we didnt let him know, we wouldnt know when he was coming home. She was 19. This meant that investigators were not only working a difficult case, but also working against bosses and colleagues, politics and public perception. Authorities found a 9mm handgun inside a trash can in the garage, according to an arrest warrant. K: Brake had the actual statements that Jacobson is referring to, from when Butch was questioned by investigators on Nov. 24, 1970. He told Jacobson he needed to shift his focus elsewhere, but Jacobson was already convinced Gilley was the main suspect. On Nov. 21, 1990, officers were able to search Gilleys residence. Recording of Brake: He told me that if anyone asked me about a .22 rifle, which he might own, to tell them no. Recording of Ken: Well it was open but they didnt do anything on it The agent that was signed to that after I left, I doubt if he did half a dozen interviews. The murders of David Sloan and Sheryl Benham remain unsolved. And theyre almost all headshots at that point. 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. 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.. The highest number of murders were reported on We still do a complete background on these people talking to everybody looking at everything. Munoz told detectives he moved into the home in 2019, and allowed a friend, Octavio Sanchez, 34, to store items in the basement. Recording of Brake: There was no official record at any check in Texas to indicate that Gilley had ever made contact with Sloan, officially. No murder weapon, no footprints, no tire tracks. 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. 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.. Norman violent crime is 14.7. 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 Jacobson said calls flooded in, but every one of them led to a dead end. But there were also bullet casings, almost 30 of them, scattered in the dirt and brush. K: Slowly, multiple other young couples started to come forward and they told stories like this one, of being out in a lovers lane area and getting harassed by a man claiming to be with the sheriffs department. I had an awful time letting go of it. And the further you get into it, the further you want to get into it. In July, a hearing was held to determine whether the case had enough evidence to go to trial. Im Kayla Branch and at the end of episode three, investigators had taken testimonies from 14 young adults who came forward claiming Frank Gilley had harassed them while they parked on lovers lanes. 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. Police traveled to the And over the years, when we went back and started looking for those things, the OSBI couldnt locate them. Pearo retired in 2004 and moved to Florida where he spends time scuba diving. 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. She told them he was home with her, but later recanted her statement, saying she didnt know exactly where he was. Recording of Linda: I thought whoopie, OK good, fine, you know? Case Number: 2023-00010701. youve got this policy thats a lot stronger than some other places. The three were found dead at a home in northeast Oklahoma City. 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. 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. Tornado hits Norman damaging the electric system and causing power cuts. When officers are tipped off to start investigating Frank Gilley as a suspect in the double homicide of David Sloan and Sheryl Benham, the Norman police force splits into two groups working against each other. 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.. An officer who cut into the plastic detected an odor that they could identify with a decomposing human corpse.. Shortly afterward, he heard gunshots. As the night hours of May 9 wear on, Sheryls dadbecomes worried. Gilleys attorney, Robert Perrine, said most of the evidence was not conclusive. The more I learned about that night, the more I realized it started off just like the fraternity parties today. 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. Henslee backed him, saying Gilley wasnt the kind of man to commit any serious crimes, definitely not murder. He was arrested early May 6, 1977, after being found by a neighbor asleep outside the bloody apartment. Recording of Ken: Frank stood on the porch and he said, Well Rangers can come in, but you guys from Oklahoma cant come in. And the Ranger said, You dont have any choice Frank, these guys are with us and were all coming in. Frank said, I dont have any .22 caliber weapons, I never owned one, I wouldnt have one. He then cut the body up into a hundred pieces and cooked and ate from them for days. Seven: How much Henslee knew but wasnt letting on? I was able to talk to my supervisor, went up the chain and went to the chief and said Hey look, can we maybe open this case back up and take another look at it, see where we can go with it? He said yeah, but go to the DAs office and talk things over with him.. The Benhams became close with investigators, especially Ken Jacobson, the lead investigator from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. I think before when it was brought up, I still hurt so bad and my emotions. Because you know her parents were there. Alex Murdaugh speaks with his attorney during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. As a matter of fact, he, even all those years later, he kept track of where Gilley was on the sly, would leave him a little note on his car every once in a while, Gilley wouldnt know where it came from, but were still looking at you, that kind of stuff, a little psychological warfare. K: Youre listening to Uncovered: the Lovers Lane Murders. And they said Well Mr. Gilley, Im standing here in your living room and it looks like somebody broke into your house.. Episode 1 explores how The Daily came across the story of the two murdered teenagers, David Sloan and Sheryl Benham. Not anyone can walk into property custody Everything is labeled and stored and organized at such a different ballgame and so a lot of those concerns about obstruction, evidence, we as an agency have put a lot of safeguards into place to ensure these things are not happening and that there is a trail. Except one, a few days later. 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. Keep in mind that they had been at a fraternity party at the SAE house. Address: 6400 BLOCK OF 36TH AVENUE NW, Norman, OK. View Source Square with arrow pointing upper right. The articles mention the relationship between Henslee and Gilley, that they had worked numerous cases together when Henslee was a Texas Ranger assigned to Pampa, Texas and Gilley was still in Potter County, about an hour southwest. Munoz said he had to call police to get Sanchez to leave. Type in Norman, OK in the upper left address window, then click on Go to Address.. K: We heard this again from Brake, who had a copy of the official police reports Ken filed the day they found the bodies. But it was one that, it was kind of a taboo subject., Recording of Kayla: Why? Recording of Linda: She also loved her first nephew, my son that was living there with us She was just crazy about him She had, believe it or not, she had a blue Mustang, a baby blue Mustang. He told them that Gilley was their main suspect, but they were struggling to convince other law enforcement officials, like the DAs office or the OSBI, that he could be charged with the murders of Sheryl and David. Jacobson pointed to the unusual handling of the case and what he considered obstruction that interfered with the investigation. Margarita Sandoval was 19 years old when family first reported her missing in 2018. Mike Brake, a police reporter for the Oklahoma Journal in 1970, went out to the crime scene with officers. But the DA at that time was adamant that the case was going to go to trial with what we had because, you know, the case wasnt improving. Were just, you just dont let it go. Recording of Brake: This is a contact with the Dave Kelley, who was with the DA office in Potter County, Texas. You know, you think youre going to get out of this, youre going to go to class the next day or go to work or whatever you do. My mind was, Where could I go, what couldve happened? She drove me to Norman. K: Jacobson, who had been involved with the case from the very morning the bodies were found, was happy another set of investigators would take up where he left off. K: The phone call from the Amarillo TV station eventually prompted some case investigators to seriously look into Gilley. WebNorman police shoot suspect who allegedly killed 1, shot another The shooting happened around 6 p.m. Thursday in the 300 block of East Comanche. He maintained that his wife at the time of the murders was with him before he started his night shift, though she denied it. Gilley had taken his first polygraph a few days after the murders and when Henslee said he passed, Gilley packed up his bags and left the force. I dont fault them for trying. Recording of Linda: Early the next morning, my sister had not come home and we knew something was wrong I remember my mother shaking me saying, Linda, Linda. Im like, What? She said, Have you heard from Sherry? Im like, What are you talking about? And I begin to hear all this, She never came home last night. My very first thought was Oh my god, Sherry, are you in trouble now. My dad was gone before daylight driving to Norman. And your first thought is Good! 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. I think he just thought it was embarrassing to have the guy being investigated.. Recording of Pearo: We went down and we talked to a judge in Dallas. Sheryl graduated from Putnam City High School in 1969 and was living in Oklahoma City with her parents, her older sister Linda and Lindas oldest son. A Daily staffer began flipping through pages in our large, dusty archive books. Way past that 1991 trial. Recording of Kayla: What was it like for you at the time that you retired was the case still open or had it kind of effectively gone cold?. The charges: One count of perjury. An old pool cue, broken in half, was in the front seat. What happens is you have blood seepage into the lung., Recording of Ken: I think he came out of that car and Frank had to shoot him a couple times, I dont think he intended to shoot anybody, he just wanted, you know, to do his thing. Weve got pictures of them but thats it. There was a lot of talk about cover up from the chief of police back then and everything, so the whole thing just had kind of a bad smell to it I guess. My mom, of course, is there, and I was there with her. And now I can talk about it without breaking down and crying. Web9801 DEERFIELD DR, NORMAN, OK 73026 Get a FREE Property Report for this home. Oklahoma City, OK Sheryls family started thinking of possibilities of what could have happened. Linda and Sheryls parents, Ben and Sue Benham, moved around for Bens different jobs until settling their family in Oklahoma City for good. He was part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. State police officers came to assist. Said if I went out in the woods and took off all my clothes, he wouldnt take me to jail.. De Soto PD called him, and said Is this Mr. Gilley? and he said yeah. Im writing this in hopes that some of the people receiving this letter can provide answers, he typed. When I googled the names of those involved, dozens of articles popped up, spanning decades. I was taken into his car and handcuffed to be taken to the jail, along with some of the other boys . The judge for the jury was the former Cleveland County DA who had previously refused to go after Gilley, Jacobson said. Re-reading articles and court documents, its clear he challenged every step of the trial. On Thursday. While Sandoval lived with Sanchez and his wife, there were multiple reports filed with law enforcement and state agencies, investigators said. Recording of Linda: Ken Jacobson, I remember that name a lot. 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. Now, Gilley was living in Amarillo, presumably with his parents, Jacobson told us. I just dont think its there. Turns out I was right. 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. He was found to not be involved with the case at all. I think he was but was not dying or dead, maybe not even dying. Recording of Brake: Henslee, basically, hired Gilley on friendship because Henslee had been in law enforcement in Texas where Gilley was.. 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. Everyone was referring to the idea that during the time of the murders, the men stuck together no matter what. Theyd see Gilleys pictures in the papers, on TV Amarillos not that big of a town. 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. He gets the rifle, which is a high capacity rifle, a .22 rifle might have a magazine of 22 rounds or more. Instead, immediately call the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department at 405-701-7700. (The US average is 22.7) Norman property crime is 40.9. I tell Judy, They found her! Recording of Brake: Some friends told me that the man was Frank Gilley and that he hit me in the head with a flashlight. 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. WebIf you reside in Norman, then there is a 1 in 321 chance that you will experience a violent crime. Pearo also testified, noting that almost all the evidence from the crime scene had disappeared, except one bullet casing. Recording of Linda: Well, she loved her job I love, theres this one picture of Sherri, she looked so cute she had the little red skirt and the white top, you know, and she was just so cute in it.. 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. The jury went on for a few days, but thats really the end of it. The OSBIs Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program and State Incident-Based Reporting System (SIBRS) are part of a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort 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. The family was polite and helpful after the murders, but wanted more than anything to just move on. They took in Sheryls ex-boyfriend for questioning. Recording of Pearo: Frank had rented a house from this guy and he brings in this .22 caliber rifle.. 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. K: NPD responded to public criticism of its officers over the years, said Major Kevin Foster. So I wanted to file impersonating an officer and he would tell these kids he was the sheriff and the DA refused to file. So I go, Dad did you find Sherry? Cooked and ate from them for days: Youre listening to Uncovered: the Lovers Lane murders of:... After Gilley, Im standing here in your living room and it looks somebody. And Gilley disappearing large, dusty archive books County DA who had previously refused to go after,! 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