Terrifying & True | The Oklahoma City Butcher: The Unsolved Murders of Native American Women

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A body is found in April,
well, parts of a body are found

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and no one has caught. Then, as time goes by, more body

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parts are found within a mile of
the last incident. Who's doing this and

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more importantly, why what you were
about to take is buriity to you?

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Based on witness accounts, testimonies,
and public record, this is terrifying and

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true true. Tonight's story is not
pleasant. It's about the murder of three

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young women and how it's been impossible
to solve for multiple decades in a place

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where most people would assume life is
simple and safe, Oklahoma. But those

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who actually know something about Oklahoma know
that Oklahoma City is like any other urban

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sprawl. It has its positives along
with its negatives, and one of those

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negatives is crime. So we'll be
taking a deep dive into the pertinent details

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of this case, and as we
dig into the gory details, see if

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any answers make sense. All this
after these quick words from our sponsors.

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Crimes against people of different religions,
sexualities, nationalities, and color is nothing

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new to America or the world at
large. Many nations have had their land

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stained red from its native inhabitants.
This is also to say nothing of the

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various inquisitions, witch hunts, and
other historical atrocities. It can be said

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that the history of man is one
of continuing violence towards those that any individual

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or society deems different, And when
it comes to unsolved crimes, it's much

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the same story. Our subject today
concerns such a case. It is one

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that, while small in scale,
has a potential to link one of America's

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most notorious killers. It's a crime
that has drawn comparison to those of London's

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Jack the Ripper and other similar murder
cases. This is the story of the

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Oklahoma City Butcher. The killings began
on Thursday, April first, nineteen seventy

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six, when three oil workers entered
an abandoned property. Upon making their way

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through the home, one of the
men tripped over what was initially believed to

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be debris. Upon closer inspection,
the supposed debris turned out to be a

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human thigh. While fleeing the property, a human head was found in an

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empty popcorn bucket. When the men
called the police to report the incident,

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their statement was dismissed as an April
Fool's prank. Detectives on the scene took

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note that the remains were of a
female. One of the victim's hands,

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along with her sex organs, were
missing. Investigators theorized the former was removed

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in an attempt to conceal the identity, while the latter was taken as a

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kind of trophy. Also, the
face of the victim was horrifically mutilated.

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Most noticeably was a smile being carved
from the corners of her mouth to her

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ears. Autopsy work concluded that the
victim was of Native American descent, in

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between eighteen and twenty two years old, and possibly homeless. Facial reconstruction was

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performed and photographs of the mock up
were distributed throughout the area, but no

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one at the time was able to
identify her. Just over three years later,

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in nineteen seventy nine, again on
a Thursday in April, this time

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on the nineteen a dog set loose
to a nearby field returned to its owner

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with a human head hanging from its
mouth. This incident occurred half a mile

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from where the first victim was found. When police arrived on the scene,

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they set their own dogs out to
the area with identical results. The animals

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located more human remains wrapped in newspapers
and inside of paper bags. The victim

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turned out to be another female whose
remains were cleaned before they were disposed of.

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Six days later. The victim,
through fingerprint analysis, was identified as

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twenty two year old r Le Bell
Killian, another Native American. She was

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seen only hours before her remains were
discovered. Her killer, however, was

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not through up until May one.
More of Killian's remains would be found scattered

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throughout the neighborhood. During this time, two men, including Killian's brother,

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a violent psychiatric patient who escaped custody
one day before Killian, was discovered or

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arrested and held. But with the
newer body parts being distributed by the killer,

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both suspects were cleared and set free. With the area and now on

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full alert, the killer decided to
forbear on satiating their sadistic urges. In

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early March of nineteen eighty six,
just around the block from where the first

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of ur Le Killian's remains were discovered, and incredibly again on a Thursday,

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a third female victim was found.
Six days later, March twelfth, nineteen

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eighty six, a garbage bin was
intentionally set aflame when the fire was quelled.

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The head of the latest victim was
found. Analysis of her tattoos led

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to an identification twenty two year old
Tina Marcia Sanders. She was last seen

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on March fifth, one day before
her remains were discovered. Shortly after,

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to no one's surprise, it was
announced that all three murders were connected and

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a serial killer was responsible. A
profile of the killer was put together,

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detailing the following proposed attributes. A
resident of the nearby area, specifically targeting

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Native American women with a history of
drugs and being homeless, may have contracted

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a an aerial disease as a result
of sleeping with one of these women.

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May have had a harsh upbringing where
a female or group of females ran the

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household between victims number two and three, the killer may have been in prison

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or on active military duty. Initially, the killer was profiled as having some

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sort of medical expertise due to the
removal of bodily organs. However, this

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was dismissed as it was evident that
savage mutilation was carried out in place of

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precise incisions, much to the contrast
of another unsolved murder, that of Elizabeth

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Short aka the Black Dahlia. In
a surprise, risingly unsurprising turn of events,

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in nineteen eighty three, Henry Lee
Lucas, a nomadic serial killer,

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confessed to Arley Killian's murder shortly after
he was arrested upon scrutiny. However,

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Lucas's confession was eventually debunked as he
was proven to be a compulsive liar,

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and in the years since his arrest
and death, many of his crimes have

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been debated in their authenticity. His
time in Oklahoma City was equivalent to only

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passing through on the highway, which
was typical of Lucas to not stick around

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after committing one of his crimes.
The true murderer clearly knew the area very

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well and returned to the crime scenes
again and again. In nineteen ninety three,

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victim number one through DNA analysis was
identified as eighteen year old Kathy Lynn

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Shackleford, a runaway. Officially,
this is the last lead the case went

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cold. According to crime writer Michael
Newton, the killer or a copycat,

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was still active. Remains of a
victim were found in nineteen eighty five during

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construction of the Centennial Expressway. Later
remains were also discovered of a Hispanic or

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Native American woman unearthed from a shallow
grave on April twenty second, nineteen ninety

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five, in this instance fifty miles
west of Oklahoma City. In two thousand

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and seven, fifty two year old
Roderick Webster was arrested and eventually convicted for

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the nineteen eighty nine mutilation and murder
of seventy five year old Audrey Harris,

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who was disemboweled similarly to the three
victims of the Oklahoma Butcher. Being that

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Webster never left the Oklahoma City area, he was strongly considered a suspect for

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the unsolved murders. However, in
this instance, the victim was not a

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homeless woman. Harris was attacked in
her home and was a Caucasian. Webster

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to this day has not been charged
with any of the Oklahoma City murders and

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the case remains officially unsolved. The
United States is a country with a very

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sordid past involving the treatment of Native
Americans. Many will point to such atrocities

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as simply part of building the nation. To this day, Native Americans still

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face many challenges, whether it be
in relation to land rights, environmental hazards,

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hate, violence, or drug addiction. But not since arguably the days

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of the discovery of the country,
or even the days of the wild West,

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did the US see such savagery like
the Oklahoma City killings. The city

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was gripped by terror for over a
decade, and it took nearly two decades

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for a victim to eat even be
identified. This is also not to say

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of the possibility that, like Michael
Newton suggested, the killer or an imitator

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kept on with the murder spree.
For all we know, perhaps there are

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more Butcher victims that were never linked
to the case, or ever had their

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remains found. With all those things
considered, the Oklahoma City Butcher remains one

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of the most notorious unknown serial killers
in American history. Whether he or she

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is alive and inactive or long since
dead, not a single citizen in Oklahoma

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City and even the country hope he
or she ever makes a return. One

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of the hardest parts of running Terrifying
and True here at Weekly Spooky is hearing

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how devastating some of these stories are
that have never been solved. Ever since

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I was a little child watching unsolved
mysteries when I was homesick from school,

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or pretending to be sick and home
from school. I just remember having this

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sense of awe and wonder and fear, but also the sense of sadness and

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dread. I guess as we get
older, we get more and more empathetic,

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and that's not a bad thing.
I'm very proud of my empathy.

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But boy, do reading stories like
this hurt? They make you feel awful.

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I do hope that there's somehow,
some information that could come to light

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to help the girl's families seek closure. But at the same time, I

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hope this is the last we ever
hear of the Oklahoma City Butcher. I

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hope they're either in prison or the
grave, either one I'll accept. At

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this point, I do find comfort
in the idea that this monster will never

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have the fame of some other serial
killers we all know as household names.

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But what do you think can this
killer be caught? Frankly, I just

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don't know. Terrifying and True is
narrated by Enrique Kuto. This episode is

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written by Morgan Moore. It's executive
produced by Rob Fields, produced by Daniel

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Wilder, with the original theme music
by Ray Maddis. If you have a

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story you'd like us to cover on
the program, send us an email at

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Weekly Spooky at gmail dot com,
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right here on Weekly Spooky and Terrifying
and True