When the couples started coming to police, investigators put together a line up of photos of officers. Perrine put in dozens of requests, ranging from declaring a mistrial to requesting that words like grotesque not be allowed in the courtroom. 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. And then we were afraid that if we didnt let him know, we wouldnt know when he was coming home. This one kind of absorbs you. Im Kayla Branch, and when we left off in episode one, the murders of David Sloan and Sheryl Benham had just happened after they left a fraternity party in Norman. And they said Well Mr. Gilley, Im standing here in your living room and it looks like somebody broke into your house.. 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. But in March of 1970, just two months before the murders, he was hired, by police chief Bill Henslee. K: Thats David Pearo, the lead case investigator for the Norman Police Department in the 1990s. Description: DISTURBANCE/DOMESTIC. He brought up the likelihood that Butch Green, his former partner who died a year after the murders, was the real potential suspect. 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. She was 19. And inside the trunk were the bodies of David and Sheryl, shot and mutilated. Munoz told detectives he moved into the home in 2019, and allowed a friend, Octavio Sanchez, 34, to store items in the basement. Whoever did that knew about crime scenes and knew about firearms they knew what they were doing. And now I can talk about it without breaking down and crying. K: Solorzano said protocols for handling evidence have become much more strict in the last 50 years, every step being documented in a complex computer program. Jacobson also testified. Oklahomas Failure to Protect law treats those who enable child abuse the same as actual abusers. WebBest Places to Live | Compare cost of living, crime, cities, schools and more. She talked about Sheryl like this every time we had a phone call. K: Sheryls mom died in 1995 and her dad in 2001. They covered for one another and allowed scandals and corruption to be swept under the rug. 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. K: This is Linda Adams, the older sister of Sheryl Benham. And even though the gun turned over by Gilleys landlord wasnt the murder weapon, it gave Pearo a path to officially reopen the case. An old pool cue, broken in half, was in the front seat. Episode 4 crosses state lines into Dallas, Texas, where the investigation is reopened in the 1990s. WebAllegations 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. When the husband went to court, it was speculated that Gilley was involved, that maybe he had tipped off the husband to the affair. Recording of Brake: 200 people. K: Along with the drive NPD felt to clear its name, the clock was ticking. K: But investigators did find .22 caliber weapons in the house, however they were technically owned by Gilleys father. K: Many of the individuals named in our investigation died within 10 or 15 years of the case going to trial. Way past that 1991 trial. He might have fired most of the ammunition from it already and he doesnt have the firepower to kill them both. Gilley took the test four days after the bodies were found. So we called him at work. K: Frank Gilley lived in Texas working odd jobs until he died in March 2002, according to the Amarillo Globe-News. 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. Most of these shots were in the upper body and head. Recording of Ken: One of the hardest things about something like this is what you know happened but you cant prove it. K: Gilley had a clean official record until this incident in 1968. The family was polite and helpful after the murders, but wanted more than anything to just move on. 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. In the safe we found some more weapons, one of them was a sawed-off shotgun, which is illegal. The murders of David Sloan and Sheryl Benham remain unsolved. But agents like Ken Jacobson didnt believe that and kept investigating. Cold Cases, Missing and Unsolved Crimes. On Saturday, May 9, 1970, Dave was 21. We never found anyone from Daves family to speak to like this, so we were given a much clearer look at the Benham family from Lindas vivid recollections of almost 50 years ago. Well, we shared the same bedroom. Recording of Kayla: Can you speak about the relationship between Henslee and Gilley? K: Next time on Uncovered: The Lovers Lane Murders. Recording of Brake: This is a contact with the Dave Kelley, who was with the DA office in Potter County, Texas. They walked up and down the field, finding a few things more bullets, mostly. DNA testing wasnt being used yet, so police had few options. Because there was not a hard piece of evidence to put him on the trigger. Next time on Uncovered: The Lovers Lane Murders: Recording of Linda: It changes your whole entire life., Recording of Ken: First of all, he quit the police department and got out of town, which was brilliant., Recording of Brake: If it really came out that he hired this guy on suspended sentence for beating up prisoners, itd make him look awfully bad., Recording of Linda: Its just such a sad, sad thing, not just because of the murder but because of the way it happened and ended up.. 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. 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. Recording of Ken: Yeah., Recording of Pearo: We had a cold case file and I would go through old homicide cases, not so much as to try to solve them, but to see how guys worked them in the past and that sort of thing.. 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 Recording of Minty: He just sat there quietly at the defense table the entire time. K: After finding the car and the bodies, officers from all of the agencies came together to sweep the area. And we started to hear this idea that the Norman police were covering themselves and trying to make up for the public outcry against them 20 years earlier. She looks like she died almost immediately. 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. 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. State police officers came to assist. The twister tossed vehicles around including one on top of another. Splashed along the front pages of newspapers and TV station headlines were two words: not guilty. I hope he died alone and a very painful death. I think dad was with him for a long time with what was going on He was so honest and wanted justice done. They took the weapons and tried to match them with some of the shell casings from the crime scene, but the tests came back without a ballistics match, Jacobson said. Witnesses were dying, people were moving or losing track of them. 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. The K: Brake and Jacobson had personal theories they shared with me on exactly what happened the night of the murders. 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. 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. 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. 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. The initial investigation putters out after obstruction from local law enforcement agencies. K: Articles about the murders were all over the central Oklahoma news, and Linda said her family was asked to do multiple interviews those next few days. But amid the chaos, David Sloan and Sheryl Benham were preparing for a date. WebThis Cleveland County Oklahoma Most Wanted List posts the top 50-100 fugitive criminals on the run. I think before when it was brought up, I still hurt so bad and my emotions. It seemed like there was a main theory our sources kept coming back to on why it was so difficult to solve the case, even after the testimonies from other young couples who had also been harassed on lovers lanes in the area and from Butch Green, Gilleys former partner, who told police Gilley had lied about not owning .22 caliber weapons. WebOn Feb. 13, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation opened a suspicious death investigation after remains were found at the lake in Norman. But one officer leaves just four days after the murders. He has an old binder with newspaper clippings, police reports and photos he took of the crime scene when it was discovered. Police said the double-murder occurred late Tuesday night in this University of Oklahoma community 20 miles south of Oklahoma City. At the end of episode two, we first heard the name Frank Gilley as a possible suspect in the murders of Sheryl Benham and David Sloan in early May of 1970. Recording of Pearo: Its always a let down. Whether he actually knew or rather it was just oh my gosh this is embarrassing, I dont know, I think more likely the latter. 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 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. 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. I did not see the flashlight myself, but as he was shoving me out the door, my head hit the door. Recording of Brake: Ava Yvonne Boden, this was her statement on Nov. 14, 1970. Im Kayla Branch. When he arrived, he was arrested. 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. Maybe altered and those things would be extremely difficult to occur today based on the procedures that are in place.. It was like, Hey look, that case will probably never go anywhere, so forget that one, you can look at the rest of them. Recording of Pearo: Frank had rented a house from this guy and he brings in this .22 caliber rifle.. Two: Why Henslee hadnt focused the investigation closer on Gilley from the beginning? Any kind of doubt that he could create was important to him. Why? On the following Wednesday and Thursday, funerals were held. 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. It was like, Hey look, that case will probably never go anywhere, so forget that one, you can look at the rest of them. Said if I went out in the woods and took off all my clothes, he wouldnt take me to jail.. 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.. The OSBI later identified the 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. .. 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.. 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. 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. 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. 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. The calls got further apart, but somebody would always call and would say what do you think about this thing, did you look at this, and all that. We talked to more than just that agency to try to uncover those things and those issues such as in this case an issue we had in Amarillo., Recording of Kayla: You mentioned that that was kind of a change. Dave Pearo and some of those guys, they really wanted to go after it.. And they are locked in the trunk now, what are they going to do. The grand jury Sheryls father had requested would finally convene. The jurors came back Monday, Nov. 11 with a verdict. It was private enough for young couples to park their cars and be intimate. We got several Norman officers lined up and walked across the area to see if we could find anything He told me, I knew that smart punk in Amarillo. At the time, I thought, Boy, thats a cold statement to make, the guy just got taken out of the trunk, he was shot a couple dozen times or so. He came up to me and volunteered that, none of the officers had anything to say, they just did what they had to do. Using the testimonies from other young couples and from Butch Green, they eventually secured a warrant to search Gilleys home in Amarillo in December of 1970. I got to know her parents very well. We still do a complete background on these people talking to everybody looking at everything. Grady. It was just gone, all the evidence was just gone.. He said his assault charges and even the call from the Amarillo TV station were retaliation for a contentious sheriff election in Amarillo in 1968, among other things, and that he was being used as a, quote, political football.. Said hes shoot rabbits with it and stuff. K: Linda lives in Oklahoma City and has multiple children of her own. With the information from the previous investigation, the gun turning up and interviews with every single original witnesses, except one that died, detectives decided to try and get a warrant to search Gilleys De Soto residence. Born on Dec. 28, 1935, he was in his mid-30s during the early 1970s. K: This past spring, our newsroom got a call asking if we could look through our old newspapers to find a picture taken of a Jimi Hendrix concert on campus from the May 12, 1970 paper. 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. Instead, immediately call the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department at 405-701-7700. A suspect is in custody, the sheriff's office in Tate County, Mississippi, He spoke of other things he usually did on weekends, like playing card games with friends. They spoke to an ex-girlfriend of Davids, who said they had sometimes went to the Ten-Mile Flats area after dates. Frank wanted you to know that he was on top of everything and that he was better than these other guys.. 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