OSBI: Gun used in Weleetka girls' slayings sold at March gun show in Tulsa
BY JERRY WOFFORD World Staff Writer
Friday, October 14, 2011
12/13/11 at 1:56 PM
One of the guns used to kill two Weleetka girls in 2008 likely was sold at a Tulsa gun show this year, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
OSBI agents said they "are confident the person who now owns this weapon is not responsible" for the slayings of Skyla Whitaker, 11, and Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, on June 8, 2008, on a county road just yards from Taylor's home northeast of Weleetka in Okfuskee County.
The weapon has been identified as a Glock .40-caliber pistol, model 22, with the serial number EKG463US. Law enforcement officials believe that it was purchased by someone at a Tulsa gun show in March.
Anyone with information about the gun is asked to call the OSBI at 800-522-8017.
Authorities believe that two guns, including a Glock, were used in the shooting, according to previous reports.
The state Medical Examiner's Office said Skyla was shot eight times and that Taylor was shot five times.
An OSBI press release issued Sept. 30 identified the gun and offered a $5,000 reward for information leading authorities to it. That reward still stands, according to a statement the agency released Thursday.
Officials wouldn't specify how agents came to believe that this specific gun was used in the slayings but said in Thursday's press release that "an intense investigation" led them to believe that the gun was sold in March at a Tulsa gun show.
Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the OSBI, said Thursday that "a lot of interviews, a lot of detective work" led authorities to the Tulsa gun show but that they have been unable to find the weapon.
"If we can get this gun, it can go a long way in helping us solve this crime," she said.
Brown said the OSBI received phone calls about the weapon after the first announcement, but they were not helpful.
By releasing more details about the gun's purchase in March, she said, agents hope that the people who bought a gun at that show, specifically a Glock .40-caliber pistol, will take a close look at the serial number.
Authorities have received hundreds of tips in the three years since the girls' slayings, but few have provided significant breaks, Brown said.
Original Print Headline: OSBI says gun from girls' slayings sold at Tulsa show
Jerry Wofford 918-581-8310
jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Paschal-Placker
Whitaker
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