Tulsa World: 8 arrested in KKK killing

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8 arrested in KKK killing
The victim, a woman thought to be from the Tulsa area, reportedly went to a Louisiana Klan initiation.

St. Tammany Parish (La.) Sheriff Jack Strain (center) speaks Tuesday at a news conference in Covington, La., about the homicide of an Oklahoma woman who was killed at a Ku Klux Klan initiation in Louisiana last weekend. Flags and Klan robes found near a KKK campsite are displayed. Flanking Strain are Washington Parish Sheriff's Deputy Brian Davidson (from left) , St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Sgt. George Cox, Washington Parish Sheriff's Lt. Tom Anderson and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Lt. Joe Picone. CHUCK COOK/The Times-Picayune/AP

By DAVID SCHULTE World Staff Writer
Published: 11/12/2008 2:16 AM
Last Modified: 11/12/2008 2:20 AM

The victim, a woman thought to be from the Tulsa area, reportedly went to a Louisiana Klan initiation.

Eight people have been arrested in the slaying of an Oklahoma woman who was killed Sunday in southeastern Louisiana during a Ku Klux Klan initiation, Louisiana officials said Tuesday.

The woman, who is believed to be from the Tulsa area, was recruited online to go to Louisiana for initiation into the white-supremacist group, a news release from St. Tammany Parish (La.) Sheriff Jack Strain states.

She was then to return to Oklahoma and start Klan recruiting efforts here.

The woman, whose identity has not yet been confirmed, arrived in the Slidell, La., area last week and was taken by Klan members to a remote campsite surrounded by woods and bayous on the Pearl River for the initiation, the Sheriff's Office reported.

When the woman asked to be taken back to town Sunday, an altercation took place and she was shot to death by Raymond "Chuck" Foster, 44, the Sheriff's Office alleges.

Strain said at a news conference Tuesday that Foster, the "imperial wizard" of a Ku Klux Klan chapter from Bogalusa, La., shot the woman with a .40-caliber handgun, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.

After the shooting, Foster and seven other alleged Klan members tried to hide the crime by digging the bullet out of the woman's body, dumping

her into the Pearl River Canal, and burning her belongings at their campsite, the Sheriff's Office alleged.

"What was odd about this was the extent they went to cover it up," the St. Tammany News quoted Strain as saying. "To the degree they scrubbed the area was pretty impressive for a group with such a small IQ."

The Times-Picayune reported that the investigation started after two of the Klansmen, Frank Stafford and Shane Foster — Raymond Foster's son — showed up at a Circle K convenience store in Bogalusa early Monday and asked a clerk how to get bloodstains out of clothing.

The Sheriff's Office reported that two members were talking to authorities in Bogalusa.

Law enforcement officers searched the area and found the woman's body under some brush near the end of Lock 3 Road in rural Sun, La., about 60 miles north of New Orleans, according to the Sheriff's Office's news release.

Officers then found the campsite several miles north of there on the bank of the Pearl River. At the campsite, they found weapons, several flags and six KKK uniforms — five white and one black — according to the release.

Detectives from the St. Tammany Parish and the Washington Parish sheriff's offices made contact by cell phone with five members of the KKK group who were still in the woods, and arrangements were made for their surrender, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office reported.

The five went by boat to a boat ramp at Lock 3 and were taken into custody there.

Raymond Foster, who had split from the rest of the group, was alone elsewhere in the woods.

Authorities reached him by phone, and he agreed to surrender, the news release states. Investigators went by boat to his location and arrested him.

Foster was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the slaying. He was booked without bail into the St. Tammany Parish Jail in Covington, the release states.

The other seven suspects— Shane Foster, 20; Frank Stafford, 21; Timothy Michael Watkins, 30; Alicia M. Watkins, 23; Andrew Yates, 20; Random Hines, 27; and Danielle Jones, 23 — face charges of obstruction of justice, the release states.

The St. Tammany News reported that all eight suspects are from the Bogalusa area.

Strain said Raymond Foster has a lengthy rap sheet dating to the 1980s that includes a conviction for manslaughter, that newspaper reported.

The sheriff said the investigation is continuing and that he isn't sure yet of the extent of the KKK in the area, the St. Tammany News reported.

"This is the most elaborate role I've seen of any KKK group" in 30-plus years of law enforcement experience, Strain said.

David Schulte 581-8367
david.schulte@tulsaworld.com By DAVID SCHULTE World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment Tony G, Tulsa (11/12/2008 6:33:40 AM) She goes to join a hate group--then gets killed by them. Darwin candidate!
	Report Comment chase, (11/12/2008 6:34:03 AM) This very serious and no jokes this morning,very sad this young women was lured into this dangerous situation.sad.
	Report Comment Ayo2, T-Town (11/12/2008 6:50:31 AM) Yes Chase, it is sad, but she didn't use common sense if she went out of state to meet people she didn't know other than from online. Factor in that they are a hate group. Are they even a real chapter of the KKK or some wanna be. Either way, it was all about hate, and anyone that can have so much hate for another group of people are missing some links, IMO. I'm not going to say she 'got what she deserved', but she shouldn't have been 'lured' into hating people so much. Contribute something besides hate to our planet.
	Report Comment Jay of Tulsa, (11/12/2008 6:54:52 AM) Lured??? Ok..so riddle me this..WHY...during the entire time traveling, she had more than enough opportunities to return to her originating point. She made a choice and the result was a sad one..but, SHE made the ultimate choice. . Kind of like when a bad guy makes a choice to break into someones house and get shot in the process...
	Report Comment concernedpapa, Kiefer (11/12/2008 7:04:34 AM) I spent several months in that area a few years back ( mid 90s) and there are some serious KKK influence in the area.
	Report Comment Eric, Tulsa (11/12/2008 7:27:40 AM) Guess we really haven't evolved that much, eh? Still got knuckle-dragging bubbas in white robes who miss the good-old-boy-days like June 1, 1920.
	Report Comment golfwife, (11/12/2008 7:55:32 AM) Probably there are many KKK groups looking to Oklahoma for new recruites after the national media focused in on our going red in all counties. These hate groups think we are ripe for pickin'. What a shame that bigotry has already started to show it's ugly head.
	Report Comment Bill Hader, Jenks (11/12/2008 8:06:23 AM) Sure they are recruiting in Oklahoma, When people in this state reelect a hate filled person like Kern. Then they should be easy pickens or "lured" to the klan.
	Report Comment Ayo2, T-Town (11/12/2008 8:28:28 AM) Thanks concernedpapa, I infered 'wannabe' just in case. You're probably right golfwife. That's why the rest of us have to be vigilent in not feeding the fear and hate these knuckle draggers promote. There's nothing partisian about not tolerating what these types try to promote. We're all better that that.
	Report Comment Ignatz, Broken Bow (11/12/2008 8:28:37 AM) Apparently the KKK doesn't get its fill of violence by taking it out on others but is turning on its on. I guess that's progress.
	Report Comment Bob 1, BA (11/12/2008 8:32:36 AM) Remember the article said something like small IQ. That says it all...........
	Report Comment pinkybruno, Tulsa (11/12/2008 8:34:26 AM) Sincerest condolences to the family of this woman. Unfortunately, her ignorant decision led to her unnecessary death. Thinning the gene pool, one racist at a time......
	Report Comment Missy M, Depew (11/12/2008 8:38:10 AM) Well,she didn't show very good judgement.She was lured by the fact that she just wanted to fit in.That's why gangs are so popular.They take the vulnerable and the weak minded,and they promise things that are never fulfilled.They do however become a part of that persons life and then become a part of, say ones family.I feel bad for this woman.She should have know better, groups like this never really care about you.They only want what you can give them.People like to think in black and white,they never reach farther and see whats inside that person,they never reach down deep inside to see that what a persons color is just on the outside and not on the in.How sad.
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (11/12/2008 8:40:07 AM) It's scary to realize that people like these walk among us. Fine examples of the "master race," aren't they?
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (11/12/2008 8:42:14 AM) Missy, the parallel between the KKK and street gangs that you draw is very insightful. The Klan members are too stupid to recognize the irony.
	Report Comment my view, America (11/12/2008 8:43:35 AM) I counted eight pictures in the TW. If you were to add up their brain cells and grade's completed, the sum would be no more than 16.
	Report Comment online predator, muskogee (11/12/2008 8:44:40 AM) Never join the klan online there are to many predators.
	Report Comment :), (11/12/2008 8:56:05 AM) Let them kill each other off.
	Report Comment raiderred, (11/12/2008 9:15:40 AM) Can someone please explain to me why he is only being charged with 2nd degree murder in this!?!? I am pretty sure that what he did and then covered up should rank a higher punishment!
	Report Comment soonernow, (11/12/2008 9:22:04 AM) Golfwife...Talk about bigotry.....Just because the State voted red? Does that mean that anyone who is a Republican is a bigot? I, and a lot of other responsible people in this state will very much resent that comment. Name calling is not the way to bridge the division in our society..especially now! Look INWARD and look outward!
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (11/12/2008 9:39:50 AM) First degree murder must be premeditated. Apparently he shot her in a fit of anger, then tried to cover it up. KKK? Anger? Imagine that!
	Report Comment raiderred, (11/12/2008 9:49:28 AM) For heaven's sake... the laws are made for the dang criminals instead of the victims! That is really frustrating...
	Report Comment Original Floyd R Turbo, Purtle (11/12/2008 9:55:40 AM) Looking for a silver lining...in a city the size of Tulsa, an organization once of substantial influence is recruiting recruiters. I would think this incident won't be helpful in the next KKK membership drive. Seems that the only place these groups have any influence is behind bars, where they get recruits based on protection more than on race hatred. --- I do like Sheriff Strain...
	Report Comment Destiny, (11/12/2008 9:56:47 AM) What's really disturbing is the ages of these suspects and people involved in this. Are people still so ignorent they are still raising children who want to be kkk?? The parents play a huge role in raising racists children. So sad you would do this to your kids. No matter what race you are, you shouldn't raise haters. May God help this young people see the light.
	Report Comment Bubba in Glenpool, (11/12/2008 10:08:39 AM) online predator...you made me laugh so hard that my eyes began to water...too funny!!! I did want to take note of one of the bigots names "Random Hines" I wonder if Mr. and Mrs. Hines planned this pregnancy???

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