Woman sought in apparent meth-related fire named most wanted
BY AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer
Monday, February 04, 2013
2/04/13 at 4:11 PM
Tulsa-area police are seeking a Bixby woman whose home was destroyed in an apparent meth-related fire in December.
Fire crews fought a blaze at a residence in the 17400 block of South 89th East Avenue for three hours on Dec. 5, according a police affidavit. The structure was a total loss.
Melinda Emma Broyles, 28, and two men were charged with first-degree arson and manufacturing methamphetamine following the fire, Tulsa County District Court records show. Broyles was named the Tulsa Police Department’s Most Wanted fugitive Monday morning.
Broyles told police she was attempting to fill a lighter with lighter fluid when she accidentally struck the lighter flint and caused her hands and areas of her bedroom to catch fire, according to a police affidavit.
Fire officials, and later police, found several items associated with a meth production including lithium batteries, drain cleaner, rubber tubing, empty pseudoephedrine packages and camp fuel as well as liquid and crystalline substances in bottles and jars in and around the residence, wrote Bixby Police Officer Jared Lowe.
Broyles pleaded guilty to permitting child abuse by injury in July. She received an eight-year sentencing deferral and was to remain under the supervision of the Department of Corrections.
She had an outstanding warrant for six years after being charged with obtaining merchandise by a bogus check in 2003. She pleaded guilty and was given a one-year, suspended jail sentence in 2009.
Paul Joseph Kappel, 27, and Joshua Allen Kappel, 38, were also charged in connection to the fire. Warrants for their arrests are also outstanding, court records show.
Broyles is white, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes.
Paul and Joshua Kappel are described as white men with blonde hair and blue eyes. Paul Kappel is 6 feet 1 inch tall, and Joshua Kappel is 6 feet tall and weighs 190 pounds.
Anyone with more information regarding the fugitives’ whereabouts is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS (2677), online at tulsaworld.com/crimestoppers or via text message at CRIMES (274637). Text tips should begin with “Tip918.” Tipsters can remain anonymous and may earn a reward.
Associated Images:
Melinda Emma Broyles
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