Three people sought in Bixby meth-linked house fire
BY AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
2/05/13 at 6:31 AM
Area authorities are looking for 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 Dec. 5, according to 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, Tulsa County District Court records show. Broyles was named the Tulsa Police Department's Most Wanted fugitive on Monday.
Broyles told police she was trying to fill a lighter with lighter fluid when she accidentally struck the flint and caused her hands and areas of her bedroom to catch fire, according to a police affidavit.
Fire officials and later police officers found several items associated with 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, the affidavit states.
Broyles had 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 she was charged with obtaining merchandise by a bogus check in 2003. She pleaded guilty in 2009 and received a one-year jail sentence that was suspended.
Paul Joseph Kappel, 27, and Joshua Allen Kappel, 38, also were charged in connection with the fire. Warrants for their arrests also are outstanding, court records show.
Broyles is white, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes.
Paul Kappel and Joshua Kappel are white 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 information regarding the fugitives' whereabouts is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS, online at tulsaworld.com/crimestoppers or via text message at CRIMES.
Text tips should begin with "Tip918." Tipsters can be anonymous and could receive a reward.
Original Print Headline: Woman among 3 people sought in meth-linked blaze
Amanda Bland 918-581-8413
amanda.bland@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Melinda Emma Broyles: The Bixby woman and two men, Paul Joseph Kappel and Joshua Allen Kappel, are charged with first degree arson and manufacturing methamphetamine in connection with a December house fire.
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