Tulsa World: Scene of the crime: House's history stuns new owner

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Scene of the crime: House's history stuns new owner

Valinda Martinez stands inside the home she recently bought in Owasso. She bought the house only to find out it was the scene of a triple homicide. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World

By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer
Published: 4/12/2009 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 4/14/2009 11:44 AM

OWASSO — A Navy veteran who recently had served three years in Europe, Valinda Martinez was thrilled to be putting down roots for herself and her two small children.

Closing on a home two weeks ago, she began moving in during a rare spring snowstorm.

"The yard is huge, and the house is big," she said. "It just looked like the perfect house."

Until a few days later, when a technician dropped a bomb.

"The cable guy walks in and he's like, 'Wow I'm not trying to freak you out, but this is that house where those murders were.' "

Horrified, Martinez did some Internet research, which confirmed the unfathomable. The home she had just purchased in the El Rio Vista addition of the city was the same residence in which three people, including a 10-year-old girl, were shot to death in August 2005. The last of the three men convicted of the murders was sentenced a year ago.

Neither the sellers, Joe and Tonya Morgan, nor their real estate agent, Marilyn Hardacre of Collinsville, had disclosed this information to Martinez or her representative, she said.

"This is the first house I've ever bought on my own," said Martinez, 27, who spent about eight years in the Navy. "I'm a single woman, just out of the military. I'm trying to make something. I feel so upset that I got so wronged."

Although Martinez was home on leave when the triple homicide occurred, she was soon shipped back to Spain, where she was a hospital corpsman from October 2004 to December 2007. Her mother called her about a week later to tell her police arrested three men in connection with the crime.

Martinez was too busy with her service abroad to give much thought to happenings on the mainland. When she began searching for a house, she did earnest homework, Googling the area for sex predators, she said.

But Martinez never envisioned it would turn out like this.

"It's very sad when you can't feel comfortable in something," she said. "It took a long time for me to be able to do this."

The law sides with the sellers.

The state's Residential Property Condition Disclosure Act requires sellers to answer questions about a dwelling's history. That includes environmental inquiries, such as whether the property has been exposed to lead-based paint, asbestos or the manufacture of methamphetamine.

Martinez's purchase falls under "psychologically impacted" real estate. According to the Oklahoma Real Estate License Code and Rules, real estate that was or is suspected to have been the site of a "suicide, homicide or other felony is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate action."

A home buyer has some relief — to a point.

In the process of making a "bona fide" offer, the purchaser can request such history from the owner, statutes indicate. But the owner isn't legally obligated to provide those details, nor is the agent able to volunteer that information without the owner's consent.

Hardacre referred questions about the sale to Terrie Foster, team leader/general manager of Keller Williams Realty in Owasso.

"I totally understand the question you are asking because you're saying, 'Don't we ever feel?' " Foster said, cutting off the thought. "Well, of course we do. But by law, if we did, then we're held liable by our seller if they didn't want it disclosed.

"If the buyer asks and the seller chooses not to (answer), then the buyer's remedy is to say, 'OK, fine. I don't feel comfortable with that. I'm out of here.' And they get their money back."

Anne Woody is executive director of the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission.

"If a licensee was to call us for guidance, we would say they would have to comply with the law as is written," she said. Woody said that if a seller refuses to disclose requested information, "then the purchaser could assume that there's something there."

None of this is any consolation to Martinez, who said she has spent only one night in the house. For the time being, she is sleeping on the couch at her parents'.

"Right now I'm just trying to look at options," said Martinez, adding that she is unsure whether to stay put or rent out the property. "I'm grasping at straws."

The Morgans in 2006 purchased the home that Martinez bought, Tulsa County land records show. Efforts to reach them by phone were unsuccessful.

"I did not want to live in this house," said Martinez, a medical assistant at a local treatment center. "It would be different if they would have disclosed that to us. We could have said, 'You know what? We're going to overcome this — or not.' But she stole that right from us to make that educated decision."

Martinez said her church has offered to bless the house when and if she desires. For now, however, she simply wants to raise awareness about nondisclosure laws she calls "ludicrous."

"They've taken something that should have been the best thing I've ever done on my own, and they've made it something that I can hardly stand," she said. "They followed the law just as underhandedly as they could have. And that was the problem."

Rhett Morgan 581-8395
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Buyer upset murders in Owasso home not disclosed," which was published on 4/11/2009.

	Report Comment Norm, (4/11/2009 2:59:54 PM) Neither the seller or the agent are required to disclose that information, UNLESS you specifically ask IN WRITING if the house is "Psychologically impacted" in any way. I hate to say it Martinez - but YOUR agent is the one who dropped the ball. They let you buy a house, that any agent worth their salt, would have known the history of.
	Report Comment Just a country boy, North Okmulgee County (4/11/2009 3:06:27 PM) Nice cable guy couldn't think of something better to say the first time he comes in.
	Report Comment Coffee, please., (4/11/2009 3:07:39 PM) I thought this type of thing HAD to be revealed. What about the house in Chimney Hills where the father killed his wife and daughters? I see people living there. Were they informed?
	Report Comment Are you kidding me, (4/11/2009 3:07:55 PM) This is unfortunate, but Norm is completely right. Your agent is to blame. More than likely the agent knew about it and didnt say anything.
	Report Comment KingCrispy, (4/11/2009 3:08:54 PM) seriously? wronged? how so? Poltergeists? Whatever, a house is a house. How silly that this is even reported....
	Report Comment CLEOKC, (4/11/2009 3:37:31 PM) Have a little faith, Ms. Martinez. You have served our country well and now it's your time. Enjoy your big house and yard and forget about what happened there. God will protect you. Best of luck to you and your family.
	Report Comment idaneerhurdit, Collinsville (4/11/2009 3:41:17 PM) Please, how was she wronged? Were there blood stains? Was it unsolved murder? She should be worried about whether or not it was a meth lab previously. THAT is what needs to be disclosed! Maybe it is time she and her children brought joy to the house. although I do believe that some houses "carry the sorrow" of their previous tennants. Opted out of a great deal of a house because there were punch marks in walls, doors, etc. That is why I ask those silly little questions.
	Report Comment Moe Howard, (4/11/2009 3:58:42 PM) I bet the house is haunted! Better call Paranormal State investigators!
	Report Comment MamaMia, Jenks (4/11/2009 4:22:14 PM) Seriously, this is news? lol
	Report Comment jimdad, (4/11/2009 4:24:15 PM) So, whats the big deal? People die in homes all the time. If you couldn't sell a home because someone died in, there would be few older homes available! Would you care if someone died in a hotel where you stay? Or, how about the fear of staying in a hospital room where people die all the time. Get over it, enjoy your nice home and yard. Look at the good things in your life. Perhaps you got a better deal on the house because of this. Probably got new carpet & paint for sure!
	Report Comment pilker, Oklahoma (4/11/2009 4:29:50 PM) OK, I would have wished I knew, but if I didn't check on it myself (the internet is just too handy) & not that I would have thought to check - I think I would forge ahead and the kids and my self would make this the best home anywhere ... but I'm a guy, it is different for her I would guess ... It's easy for me to type "think positive" ...
	Report Comment Norm, (4/11/2009 4:37:10 PM) jimdad brings up a VERY good point. I used to work in a very nice Hotel in a major resort destination. During my time there - there was the man in rm 326 who was found with his hands duct taped behind his back, duct tape on his mouth - and a double tap .22 entry in the back of his skull. Ironically enough - this is the same room I delivered a guest's baby in a year later! Rm 1012 had a gentleman leave a suicide note - then take a header off the balcony onto the sidewalk below. Rm 105 - the travelling Businessman who never picked up his wake-up call. We got sent to check on him - found him dead of a heart attack in bed. Rm 812 - the visiting flight attendant who was beaten and raped by the guy who followed her to her room. The point is - there have been THOUSANDS of people who have stayed in those very rooms since those occurances (and those are just the ones that I personally worked) - and not a single one of them has been negatively impacted in any way shape or form. Most of you have probably stayed in a hotel room JUST like those. Sweet dreams!! Asking these type of questions is "Home-Buying 101". Your agent just wanted to get a commission - and wasn't watching out for you.
	Report Comment tigress, (4/11/2009 4:58:39 PM) Coffee Please, where was this in Chimney Hills? I know people who live there, and I hope it isn't their house.
	Report Comment irishokee, Holdenville (4/11/2009 5:00:49 PM) My husband is a real estate attorney. It is not required by law to disclose this kind of information. Only thing that has to be disclosed is defects in the home.
	Report Comment T.B'Ville, Bartlesville (4/11/2009 5:11:13 PM) Does she want out of it now? If not, be quiet and go on.
	Report Comment stlanders23, (4/11/2009 5:19:49 PM) I have to say that dying in a home or hospital of natural causes is not the same as three people being brutally murdered in a place in which someone is trying to make a home. I feel for this woman even though what occurred is perfectly legal.
	Report Comment out here in the middle, Sand Springs (4/11/2009 6:06:50 PM) My wife is a kindergarten teacher. It is not required by law to disclose this kind of information. Only thing that has to be disclosed is defects in the home. :>)
	Report Comment Milo, PoDunk (4/11/2009 6:22:38 PM) It would have been decent enough of Hardacre to disclose this information..I do not have a teacher spouse to tell me that either.I am not asking what is legal. This is not very good PR for the agent anyhow..
	Report Comment great34a, (4/11/2009 6:37:12 PM) Such a shock....a story with all the "buzz words"...single mom, just out of the military, first home.... What does that have to do with anything? It MIGHT be important if she bought a house that was later found to be defective or full of mold, for example. Instead, she bought a home that she loved and was excited about. A home in an appropriate condition. How does people dying in that home make one bit of difference? I don't even understand how this is news. The reporter should have done their due diligence and included in this story that the real estate agent had NO responsibility to report this incident. Stop whining, enjoy your house and Tulsa World, start reporting something of substance, please!
	Report Comment C.R. Delough, Tulsa (4/11/2009 7:15:40 PM) What's the deal with that fireplace all crammed into an awkward angle...I wouldn't have bought it because of that.
	Report Comment remarkable, (4/11/2009 7:46:51 PM) Vern, what planet did you crawl under. that is a stupid statement. Well, I guess the new owner does not have achance to fight this one at court. If she still feels uncomfortable she can sell it.
	Report Comment Arbythree, Tulsa (4/11/2009 7:48:52 PM) Remind me NOT to buy a home from NORM!
	Report Comment marlin, (4/11/2009 7:53:05 PM) Recently.......was that picture took years before she entered our military?
	Report Comment Daven, Tulsa (4/11/2009 7:55:25 PM) So people died there. Whats the big deal? How many Native Americans died on the soil our house/office/parks/etc. are on? A house is what you make of it. Not what it was in the past.
	Report Comment yep, Tulsa County (4/11/2009 8:00:09 PM) She said "I got so wronged." Victimhood at its finest.

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