Investigators called former colleagues and bosses of Gilley, looking for character statements. Recording of Brake: This is a contact with the Dave Kelley, who was with the DA office in Potter County, Texas. Per page 1; 2; 3 > Christopher Sanders. Recording of Solorzano: Theres definitely more rules in place documented. That was good enough for me to go after him with everything I had.. The state Medical Examiners Office confirmed the body as that of Sandoval. In the safe we found some more weapons, one of them was a sawed-off shotgun, which is illegal. 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. 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? Today, that house is tall and long, bricked at the bottom. It was another disappointing end again.. I think he was but was not dying or dead, maybe not even dying. There is no other perpetrator that makes any sense at all, none., Recording of Ken: When you get in a situation like that, you never really think youre going to die. Recording of Brake: He told me that if anyone asked me about a .22 rifle, which he might own, to tell them no. Thats what I wish., Recording of Linda: Oh hey, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, it was so hard for me. 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.. I call, my dad picks up the phone. You know You had this last so where is it?. K: Undeterred by the two passed polygraphs, investigators kept digging. I just dont think its there. Turns out I was right. . And then we were afraid that if we didnt let him know, we wouldnt know when he was coming home. Alex Murdaugh speaks with his attorney during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. Its seized, its packaged. And even though these statements were coming in after the murders of Sheryl and David, police were including pictures of Gilley. Recording of Linda: I know justice was not served It was one of the hardest things Ive ever done in my life, cause every day I would drive from Oklahoma City clear to Norman, to the courthouse and you know Kayla, what I heard in that was just even, even proof to me more and more that he did do this.. Norman violent crime is 14.7. Jacobson pointed to the unusual handling of the case and what he considered obstruction that interfered with the investigation. 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. They stayed at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house for a few hours, hanging out with friends. 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. According to articles, testimonies and interviews, Henslee was worried. Episode 1 explores how The Daily came across the story of the two murdered teenagers, David Sloan and Sheryl Benham. 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. 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. Thats where Dave would have walked when he came to pick Sheryl up for their date Saturday night. But in March of 1970, just two months before the murders, he was hired, by police chief Bill Henslee. Dave and Sherry deserved something better than what they got and their families Maybe there is something in there we missed.. 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. Investigators said Bill Henslee, the Norman police chief at the time, wanted to make sure this case didnt reflect poorly on him or the department. The cloudy past of the man suspected for the murders is investigated in episode 3, as well as the beginnings of a cover-up, a retracted alibi and testimony from various couples who were also harassed on Lovers Lanes. The explanation that Gilley was being framed ended up as somewhat of the official stance of the police department. I dont anymore. Recording of Foster: Back then a lot more of that stuff what went on. Recording of Pearo: He thought we were just working the dickens out of his burglary. Two of Gilleys ex-wives testified, saying he never mentioned to them his work in Norman as a police officer, though they knew of his work in Amarillo. (The US average is 22.7) Norman property crime is 40.9. 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. Hes got a big smile, seems confident. Recording of Brake: When he got on the elevator there, there was a Mexican boy about 18 years old on there with us, as well as another deputy. NOTES: GRADY CO I spent an awful lot of time on it in 1970, 73 but after that it just.. Recording of Kayla: Puttered out. He spoke of how Gilley admitted to him he did know David before the murders, though Gilley previously testified he had never met David. Police questioned Gilley and Henslee, who both said Gilley had never owned a .22 caliber weapon, the type of gun used in the murders. 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 Foster: One, we have basic requirements of age. It was the summer after Woodstock and Americas counterculture was thriving. He maintained that his wife at the time of the murders was with him before he started his night shift, though she denied it. K: Eventually, Norman prosecutors declared they would be seeking the death penalty for Gilley due to the period of torture and terror David and Sheryl endured while being locked alive in the trunk. K: In fact, for 20 years, he, the initial investigator and pursuer of justice, kept a single shell casing in an envelope, one he picked up while walking the fields after finding the bodies of Sheryl and Dave. 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.. 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. 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. He spoke of other things he usually did on weekends, like playing card games with friends. It was just gone, all the evidence was just gone.. K: Lubbock and Amarillo are nearly two hours away from each other. K: 1970. 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. Two years later, it seems like charges might be put against Gilley, but nothing is certain. He showed us this information he had collected over the years. Thousands gathered for a demonstration on the Kent State University campus in Ohio. The Benhams became close with investigators, especially Ken Jacobson, the lead investigator from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. He has an old binder with newspaper clippings, police reports and photos he took of the crime scene when it was discovered. K: When Jacobson and the team of investigators finally have enough evidence to put real pressure on Gilley, they run into opposition from Henslee and other Oklahoma law enforcement. Compare Norman crime data to 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. K: Almost two days later, their belongings were found dropped in and around Daves car, a 1966 Pontiac GTO. Decades of investigations followed, creating ripples in the Norman community still felt today. I dont think she was shot at that point. He was part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. 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. An officer who cut into the plastic detected an odor that they could identify with a decomposing human corpse.. I did not see the flashlight myself, but as he was shoving me out the door, my head hit the door. We were very close. So we called him at work. 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. Witnesses were dying, people were moving or losing track of them. 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. 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. And now youve seen me.. Davids keys, wallet and shoes were all missing, too. SpotCrime crime details. At the end of episode four, police called Frank Gilley at work and told him to hurry home. 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.. We still do polygraph examinations. 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.. Recording of Linda: I thought whoopie, OK good, fine, you know? Perrine put in dozens of requests, ranging from declaring a mistrial to requesting that words like grotesque not be allowed in the courtroom. Recording of Kayla: Can you speak about the relationship between Henslee and Gilley? 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. K: Youre listening to Uncovered: the Lovers Lane Murders. 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. 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. He said the politics were too much, that true policing was impossible because of it. Case Number: 2023-00010701. 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 Gilley said he had never met Sloan. 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. They walked up and down the field, finding a few things more bullets, mostly. The Hippie Era was still blazing, but now, the kids coming of age had become increasingly politically active. We announced that we were going to go for the death penalty on those cases because of the circumstances. WebCBS News Six people were killed in a series of shootings Friday in northwestern Mississippi, authorities said. He gets the rifle, which is a high capacity rifle, a .22 rifle might have a magazine of 22 rounds or more. Tornado hits Norman damaging the electric system and causing power cuts. 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. 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. 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. Now he is not working at this time. He had showed me all of these at one time or another and also offered to loan them to me. The jury went on for a few days, but thats really the end of it. Recording of Brake: Wish we could have put the son of a bitch in the electric chair.. Due to the current status of the case, information is limited at this time, Jensen said. They took in Sheryls ex-boyfriend for questioning. K: We heard this again from Brake, who had a copy of the official police reports Ken filed the day they found the bodies. 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. Recording of Pearo: And he told us where hed gotten it. And then we sort of told him Weve got some good news and bad news. Munoz told investigators he last saw Sanchez in May of 2020 when Sanchez was trying to get into the house uninvited, according to the search warrant affidavit. Officers also started looking into Gilleys personal life, interviewing the woman he was married to in the 70s about his whereabouts the night of the murders. 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. Oklahoma City, OK Recording of Brake: Henslee, basically, hired Gilley on friendship because Henslee had been in law enforcement in Texas where Gilley was.. ADVERTISEMENT 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. I think he started his lovers lane harassment and I think David recognized him. Bill Maher funeral home. We were told he had been living in a nursing home. Because of his mistrust in the intentions of other officers as the case unfolded through the years, Jacobson held onto it until he presented it in 1990 as the lone remaining piece of evidence. The violent crime rate in Norman is 289.4 per 100,000 people. 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. And he told me, he said if I file a case like that, itll set law enforcement back 20 years in Oklahoma., Recording of Kayla: Now what does that mean? Its just that willingness to listen and to take action on those things.. What more do you want me to say?, Recording of Linda: What all he did to how many people after Sherry and Dave? How did you kill them? The Norman Police Department said it didnt hold any officials records back that far that we could use to verify specific details. 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. NORMAN Cory Jay Bodily was killed in 2008. He says he found the gun in Aug. of 1970,, Recording of Pearo: but kept it for 20 years and didnt know that there was any significance to the fact that it was a .22 rifle and that it may have belonged to Gilley So we didnt know if this was the gun or not, but it sort of caught Gilley in a lie. She was 19. Recording of Brake: Well the second one, the guys at the Norman Police Department really wanted to solve the darn thing. Recording of Pearo: The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, because they had helped out on the murder investigation as well and theyre the ones that have the labs and everything in the state of Oklahoma, so the evidence was all turned over the the OSBI. Now detectives believed themselves to be without any physical evidence. He then cut the body up into a hundred pieces and cooked and ate from them for days. 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. -36.90% lower than the Oklahoma violent crime rate of 458.6 per 100,000 people. 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. They picked through old evidence and files, contacting anyone who would still have a good recollection of what happened two decades before. WebCrime rate in Norman, Oklahoma (OK): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map Crime rate in Recording of Ken: Henslee set it up and at that time, we werent sure if Henslee was for us or against us. There arent families like that now, I dont think. Seven: How much Henslee knew but wasnt letting on? The two stayed there for an unknown amount of time. 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. We were never able to get in contact with any of these family members, though. It was private enough for young couples to park their cars and be intimate. Theyd see Gilleys pictures in the papers, on TV Amarillos not that big of a town. 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. When the OSBI, along with the Norman Police Department and the Cleveland County Sheriffs Office, found the bodies on Monday, May 11, Sheryl and David had been missing for just over 24 hours. So got a lot of fire power.. And then he goes on duty and comes back in the police car and finishes them off., Recording of Brake: And you notice there were a couple bullet holes in the fenders of the car. Jacobson and a few other agents, like Norman detective Floyd Nash, dedicated themselves to finding enough hard proof to convict Gilley. Words he said he believes she would have said.. And then all of a sudden one day, he said he found it. Oklahoma is 10.8% cheaper than Norman, Oklahoma. They checked his police car, finding that on an average night, he would drive well over 100 miles on patrol. Well start back up with thoughts from Linda, Recording of Kayla: Now what does that mean?, 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. And your first thought is Good! 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