In 1993, authorities in the small town of Sperry, Oklahoma (population around 1000), made one of the most chilling, gruesome, and disturbing discoveries in the history of the state. Tulsa County Sheriff Jonathan Mason, who broke down when testifying in court due to the heinous nature of the crime, says that the case still disturbs him to this day, and he frequently has nightmares and flashbacks of the scene he walked into that Tuesday, the third of August.
Police had received a phone call from an electric utility worker named Samuel Turner, who reported that while completing a meter reading at the residence of 35 year-old Elizabeth Parker, he heard what sounded like, “a dog or wolf that was howling,” but that he knew something was not right when the howling began to be interspersed with sobs, cries, and unintelligible words. While he didn’t know what was happening, he knew for sure that someone was in a lot of pain. He immediately returned to his utility truck parked down the block, radioed back to his dispatcher to call the police, and kept an eye on the house until they arrived.
Sheriff Mason, who was a deputy at the time, arrived on the scene at the same time as Deputy Jack Haslett. Together they approached the front door and knocked, but they did not receive a response. They could hear the howling and sobs that the utility worker had described, as well as what appeared to be a woman’s voice screaming. They knocked again, announced themselves, and still not receiving a response, they made entry into the home through the front door, which was unlocked. Nothing they had received in their training could ever have prepared them for the nightmare they were about to walk in on. (more…)
