Weapon info is clue

BY JEFF BILLINGTON World Staff Writer
Thursday, June 12, 2008
6/12/08 at 8:13 AM

For More: Murder probe builds :: Residents remain on edge :: Slaying of girls shocks town :: $14,000 reward offered in killing of two girls :: 2 girls killed near Weleetka

OSBI suspects at least two killers

WELEETKA — Two different caliber weapons were used to kill two Weleetka girls, leading investigators to believe there were at least two killers, an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent said Wednesday.

Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, were found shot to death Sunday afternoon on a rural road near Weleetka. The state Medical Examiner's Office said each suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

OSBI Special Agent Ben Rosser said Wednesday that two different caliber weapons were used to kill the two girls, and because of that fact, investigators believe there were at least two killers. Rosser said investigators have not released the type of weapons used to kill the girls.

The OSBI also has interviewed the girls' friends and families in the hopes of gaining clues as to who might have been responsible, Rosser said.

"We're talking to young people because the victims were young," he said. "We've got leads and we're talking to their friends, but a lot of people are harder to find than others.

"There's no indication that the families are involved, but we're keeping an open mind trying to find the suspects."

Investigators also believe the killers are either from the area or are familiar with it, Rosser said.

"That's my gut feeling. It's an isolated area. We don't know if this is some kind of random thrill killing or an attempted abduction or a case of mistaken identity," he said. "It's possible they may have interrupted something at the bridge."

The bridge along County Line Road, (N 3890 Road) where the girls' bodies were found, is a popular place for teens to gather and shoot guns, Rosser said. The location is more than three miles northeast of Weleetka, about 70 miles south of Tulsa, and is about one-fourth of a mile from Taylor's home, near Coleman Road.

Officials said both girls had gone for a walk, as they often did, along the dirt road around 5 p.m. Sunday. Rosser said neither of the girls appeared to have been sexually molested, and an estimated 30 minutes elapsed between the time they went for the walk and when they were discovered.

Agents investigated a tip Wednesday that someone reported a pickup full of boys in the area at the same time of the killings.

"We contacted those individuals, and yes, they had a shotgun," Rosser said. "They told us they were down there shooting, just like they would have been on any Sunday. There's nothing to indicate that they are suspects."

Rosser also said the reward has grown to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers.

Trying to cope

Joe Mosher, an uncle of Taylor, said the two families are still trying to cope with the death of the two girls.

"It's pretty tough for them. We're still trying to find out what happened, because this is tragic — just so tragic," Mosher said. "From what information we've received so far, I got a call from North Carolina of all places, saying there was two guns involved and maybe three people.

"Both families are having a very hard time, really. The people in the community, especially, have done wonders. They have all pulled together and they're helping these families and we appreciate that so much. They are doing a great job of taking care of these families."

One of Taylor's thrills, Mosher said, was rescuing turtles that she found in the road near her home.

"She would take a black magic marker with her and write her name on them then turn them lose. She would rescue them off the highway, roads and such, and bring them out here and turn them loose," he said. "She loved it out here, she totally loved it out here. She loved animals, and had her own horse up here. She had dogs, cats; she loved animals. She was a very bright girl."

Mosher said Taylor had been home-schooled until she moved to Weleetka, where she attended Graham School, a system of about 100 students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade.

"They moved from Oklahoma City to get away from the violence," he said. "The violence in Oklahoma City is just outrageous so they moved out here to get away from it. And now this happens."

Mosher said Taylor and Skyla were the best of friends, almost inseparable. Taylor would always talk about how Skyla was her best friend and the things they did together, he said.

"They loved each other. Usually, if you saw them out here, they were both together," Mosher said. "One weekend they would be at Taylor's house, the next weekend they would be at Skyla's house."

Mosher said the families have laid their trust in the hands of the Okfuskee County Sheriff's Department and the OSBI to find the killers.

"We all understand that there's only certain information they can release and it's best to release it all at once," he said. "They're doing a good job, and we appreciate that. I'm surprised there hasn't been an arrest yet, but there will be. It might take a little bit but whoever it was, will be caught.

"It's just a really sad thing that this happened and they'll pay their dues; they will pay their dues. Everybody asks if I want to hurt these people. No, I don't want to hurt these people. The people in prison will hurt these people. When these people are caught and they go to prison, that's the end of it. They will pay their dues in prison."

'Sad situation'

Mosher said he believes the killers are from the area because the location was in such a remote area and only someone who lived near Weleetka or in Okfuskee County would know about it.

"It had to have been somebody from this area. Nobody is going to come off the freeway or highway and find this area and be able to get out of here quickly. I think it's somebody in the community who did it and I really feel sorry for them, not only for what they've done to our families, but what they've done to the community," he said. "This community is in shock; they don't know what to think. They don't let their children out by themselves now. At nighttime, you're not going to find a child; everybody is locking their doors at night now. It's a sad situation."

Mosher hopes that once the suspects in the girls' murders are caught, the families and the community might be able to heal. But things will never be the same again, he said.

"It'll take a while. If they get caught today, it's not going to go back tomorrow to the way it used to be. It will never be exactly like it used to be, because people see that this type of crime can happen out here," he said.

Jeff Billington 581-8369
jeff.billington@tulsaworld.com

Reward, funds established

The OSBI is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

For more information, call the OSBI hot line at (800) 522-8017.

Also, donations are being accepted for both families under separate accounts, said Robena Peters, accounts supervisor for the Bank of Commerce inWeleetka. Donations may be made to the Skyla Whittaker Memorial Fund or the Taylor Paschal- Placker Memorial fund, and sent to the Bank of Commerce, P.O. Box 48, Weleetka, OK 74880. For more information, call (405)786-2216.

Missing and murdered children

The following are among the cases of missing and murdered children in Oklahoma and the area

1947 Joan Gay Croft , 4, disappeared after a tornado destroyed most of Woodward. Two men grabbed her from a cot in a hospital and ran out with her. Unsolved.

1977 Bodies of Girl Scouts Doris Denise Milner , 10; Lori Lee Farmer , 8, and Michele Guse , 9, found at Camp Scott near Locust Grove. Gene Leroy Hart acquitted of the killings in 1979.

1981 Cinda Pallett and Charlotte Kinsey , both 13, disappeared from the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City. Unsolved.

1982 Shannon Patrick Ketron , 7 months, disappeared from Lawton. His mother stopped her truck to retrieve something from the back and was hit on the head. When she awoke, the truck and child were gone. Unsolved.

1989 Justin Wiles , 13, vanished in Tulsa. Body parts found in Lake Bixhoma. Wayne Henry Garrison convicted of the murder in 2001.

1990 Katherine Ann Busch , 7, of Yukon, raped and murdered. Floyd Allen Medlock executed for the crimes in 2001.

1990 Kimberly Dawn Allison , 12, who had run away from her Tulsa home, found shot four times and set on fire. Adriel Simpson, who was 15 at the time of the killing and to whose home she had gone after running away, was sentenced to life without parole in 1992 and again in 1997, after the first conviction was reversed on appeal.

1992 — Roxie Moser , 11, disappeared from an east Tulsa parking lot. Vernon Lynn Hopper Jr. confessed to murdering her by injecting her with an animal tranquilizer and received a no-parole life prison sentence in 1998.

1992 — Amanda Craig , 11, of Arkansas was kidnapped and murdered. Vernon Lynn Hopper Jr. confessed in 1994 to injecting her with animal tranquilizer and received a no-parole life term in Mayes County, Okla., where her body was found.

1995 Morgan Nick , 6, kidnapped from an Alma, Ark., baseball field. Unsolved.

1997 Tiffiany Beverly , 15, of Broken Arrow, reported missing from Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa. Her remains were found in Wagoner County in 1998. Her stepfather, Oscar Patterson, convicted in Tulsa County, but verdict overturned on appeal. Charges refiled in Wagoner County, but no trial has been set. He is serving sentences totaling 100 years for sexually abusing another family member.

1998 Body of Dena Dean , 16, of Tulsa found six days after she was reported missing. Unsolved.

1999 Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman , both 16, missing since Freeman's parents were found shot to death in their torched mobile home near Welch. Unsolved.

2006 Elizabeth Wagoner , 10, kidnapped, assaulted and strangled in Tulsa. Daniel Johnson, a neighbor, sentenced to life for the killing.

2006 Jamie Rose Bolin , 10, assaulted and killed in Purcell. Neighbor Kevin Ray Underwood sentenced to death.

2006 Colton Levi Clark , 9, disappeared in Seminole. Unsolved.

2007 Cori Baker , 13, reported missing in Tulsa. Body found in Creek County in March 2008. Sister's boyfriend, Marquis Bullock, charged with first-degree murder.

2008 Skyla Jade Whitaker , 11, and Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker , 13, found shot to death along a county road outside Weleetka.Compiled by World researchers Hilary Pittman and Rachele Vaughan and World staff writer Bill Braun.

Associated Images:

Joe Mosher, uncle of 13-year-old Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker of Weleetka, reacts while speaking to a reporter about the shooting deaths of his niece and her friend, Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

Chaplain Michael Grigsby recites a prayer as Okfuskee County Sheriff Jack Choate and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Ben Rosser bow their heads during a press conference on Wednesday in Okemah about the Sunday shooting deaths of 11-year-old Skyla Jade Whitaker and 13-year-old Taylor Dawn Paschal-Placker. MIKE SIMONS/TulsaWorld