Skyla Whitaker, 11, & Taylor Placker 13 - Found Murdered - #20

[cassiusleuth]

I have to ask now...were we told about the path here?

This is probably unrelated to the girls, but the guy still sounds like he should be on our radar. He must be one cruel and vicious person to do that to anyone. I am glad someone rescued her before she died in the heat.

WETUMKA, Okla. (AP) - A Wetumka man has been arrested for allegedly locking a 16-year-old Weleetka girl in a large toolbox and holding a heated screwdriver against her.

Christopher Kyle Lewis was booked into the Hughes County jail Tuesday on charges of kidnapping and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

~Snip~

The affidavit says a Jan. 22 child abuse charge filed against Lewis involved the girl.

http://krmg.com/localnews/2009/08/man-accused-of-locking-girl-in.html BBM

It doesn't mention the relationship between the two, but if he was charged with child abuse before then I would have to assume they are related. I found it interesting because she is from Weleetka. It did not give the age of the man.

Looks like he has quite the past since 2004, 2 pages worth of a record, including a couple Assaults with a Deadly Weapon last year and this year. He is also fairly young - 24.

http://www1.odcr.com/results.php#ht...4&PHPSESSID=hod696gfm5g92v8lummkrt0361&Page=0

 

[lightwaveryder]

The girls could easily have had a planned rendezvous with someone at that exact spot if it was a meeting place of sorts.

i haven't been on here in a while, i have been hoping there would be some new developments in this case.
yellowdog, i quoted you only to make a small point. if someone knew the girls, or drove by that tree every day at the same time, they might have become familiar with their pattern, and gone there.

this case stinks. ive read some really rotten stories, but usually, and i hate to even say this out loud, if a little girl is murdered in this fashion, someone is wanting to keep her from saying something. in this case it was two, i feel like there is another story here that we don't know. it just doesnt make sense. it also doesn't make sense that the mongol bikers killed them, i really don't think it has to do with bikers, bikers like to kill grown men.


keep the faith ! one day somoene will know.

~lightwaveryder~

 

[SeriouslySearching]

The Lewis guy was her boyfriend. Weird. I have never heard of a child abuse charge stemming from a boyfriend before.

WETUMKA, Okla. -- Investigators are offering new details about a teenager locked in a tool box.

Wetumka police arrested Christopher Lewis on suspicion of putting the girl inside the box and said he's facing several charges.

~snip~

He said the girl had a relationship with Lewis, who was being held at the county jail on Wednesday in lieu of $200,000 bond. He had two previous charges involving the same girl, including child abuse and violating a protective order.

Police said it was a rainy day when she was locked up inside a house last week, a place where Lewis had come to drink with friends. Police said Lewis and the girl had an on-again, off-again relationship.

"It's no cause for being put in a tool box or anything, not at all," the friend said.

Police said the girl told them that Lewis brought her water during her captivity. A friend rescued her when she came to the house and heard her crying out.

http://www.koco.com/news/20297276/detail.html

 

[YellowDog]

i haven't been on here in a while, i have been hoping there would be some new developments in this case.
yellowdog, i quoted you only to make a small point. if someone knew the girls, or drove by that tree every day at the same time, they might have become familiar with their pattern, and gone there.

this case stinks. ive read some really rotten stories, but usually, and i hate to even say this out loud, if a little girl is murdered in this fashion, someone is wanting to keep her from saying something. in this case it was two, i feel like there is another story here that we don't know. it just doesnt make sense. it also doesn't make sense that the mongol bikers killed them, i really don't think it has to do with bikers, bikers like to kill grown men.

keep the faith ! one day somoene will know.

~lightwaveryder~

I agree. The girls might have known something detrimental and they were getting ready to "rat out" on the killer/killers.

 

[STEADFAST]

The Lewis guy was her boyfriend. Weird. I have never heard of a child abuse charge stemming from a boyfriend before.

WETUMKA, Okla. -- Investigators are offering new details about a teenager locked in a tool box.

Wetumka police arrested Christopher Lewis on suspicion of putting the girl inside the box and said he's facing several charges.

~snip~

He said the girl had a relationship with Lewis, who was being held at the county jail on Wednesday in lieu of $200,000 bond. He had two previous charges involving the same girl, including child abuse and violating a protective order.

Police said it was a rainy day when she was locked up inside a house last week, a place where Lewis had come to drink with friends. Police said Lewis and the girl had an on-again, off-again relationship.

"It's no cause for being put in a tool box or anything, not at all," the friend said.

Police said the girl told them that Lewis brought her water during her captivity. A friend rescued her when she came to the house and heard her crying out.

http://www.koco.com/news/20297276/detail.html

A Christopher Kyle Lewis has a record of child abuse in Hughes County, which is right by where Wetumka and Weleetka are. His record also includes 2nd degree burglary, assault and battery with dangerous weapon (twice), DUI, domestic abuse, violation of a protective order. And he's been sued for paternity.
http://www1.odcr.com/results.php#/results.php?Page=0

ETA Forgot to look at page 2. He's had two protective orders taken out against him by two different people.

 

[Mysterylover]

I agree. The girls might have known something detrimental and they were getting ready to "rat out" on the killer/killers.....

YellowDog, I'm adding to your theory.
My theory for today is: the girls either saw something criminal and 'told that person, they were telling' or one girl, possibly had something very detrimental happen to them that weekend or since school was out and was going to tell.

The killer knew S. would tell as soon as she got home that evening and had to keep both girls from 'telling on them'.
the killer, knew the girls were hanging around the tree that day.

The girls knew the killer and started walking from the tree, toward the killer as he/she talked and tried to convince the girls to keep their mouths shut, with T. not backing down, possibly telling him/her they were 'ratting on him' as soon as S.'s Mom got there, the killer being very mad, starts shooting....jmo

 

[YellowDog]

YellowDog, I'm adding to your theory.
My theory for today is: the girls either saw something criminal and 'told that person, they were telling' or one girl, possibly had something very detrimental happen to them that weekend or since school was out and was going to tell.

The killer knew S. would tell as soon as she got home that evening and had to keep both girls from 'telling on them'.
the killer, knew the girls were hanging around the tree that day.

The girls knew the killer and started walking from the tree, toward the killer as he/she talked and tried to convince the girls to keep their mouths shut, with T. not backing down, possibly telling him/her they were 'ratting on him' as soon as S.'s Mom got there, the killer being very mad, starts shooting....jmo

I can certainly imagine that happening. I DON'T think it was total strangers that committed this horrible crime. Kids that age congregate in little cliques and they don't always tell their parents everything that goes on. They have their secrets among themselves.

 

[weleetka1]

Barbed wire fence behind the site where the angels were murdered.

 

[Mysterylover]

Barbed wire fence behind the site where the angels were murdered....

Weleetka1, Who owned the land on 'either' side of the barbed wire fence?

 

[GetSmart]

That is a good pic W1... you sure can tell the difference in the foliage however. Owl's pics were taken in June .. everything was soo soo green. Was this pic taken in July? Cause WOW it must be really be dry there then..

 

[Ruflossn]

YellowDog, I'm adding to your theory.
My theory for today is: the girls either saw something criminal and 'told that person, they were telling' or one girl, possibly had something very detrimental happen to them that weekend or since school was out and was going to tell.

The killer knew S. would tell as soon as she got home that evening and had to keep both girls from 'telling on them'.
the killer, knew the girls were hanging around the tree that day.

The girls knew the killer and started walking from the tree, toward the killer as he/she talked and tried to convince the girls to keep their mouths shut, with T. not backing down, possibly telling him/her they were 'ratting on him' as soon as S.'s Mom got there, the killer being very mad, starts shooting....jmo

ML,
For what it is worth, I think your theory is exactly what happened.
I do not think this crime was random.
The perp(s) knew these girls and had an exact reason for ending their lives. The perp(s) were: 1) young 2) enraged 3) both young and enraged.
Hence the reason for the 'overkill'.
I would like to know the exact number of bullets recovered from the scene.

 

[GetSmart]

This is another still shot (the BRIDGE) I did from the video that "Owl" sent me. I still cant get over how wooded that area is .. sooo many places to just take a few steps back and poof no one would see you !!

They walked north from Taylor's home along County Line Road to the Bad Creek bridge, a half-mile away.
Investigators said the two had made it to the bridge and were returning to Taylor's home when they were gunned down.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/printerfriendlystory.aspx?articleID=20080820_12_A1_hOSBIa443762

 

[GetSmart]

As we all know it rained like cats & dogs the nite of the murder. Once again this pic was taken from video June 09. There is plenty of water down there ..and the mud sure would suck up a gun(s). Does anyone remember if it was stated OSBI or whatever powers that be did a search under the muck ...Just throwing this out there for speculation..

 

[Ruflossn]

GSmart,
I would like to think that LE searched the water etc........ for the guns. I always wondered if LE searched the pond behind the Plackers home for the weapons. I would like to assume they did but, in this case, I assume nothing.

 

[:+:MrTT:+:]

As we all know it rained like cats & dogs the nite of the murder. Once again this pic was taken from video June 09. There is plenty of water down there ..and the mud sure would suck up a gun(s). Does anyone remember if it was stated OSBI or whatever powers that be did a search under the muck ...Just throwing this out there for speculation..

for your visual aids.........for those of us, whom cannot travel to the crime area........your photos are tremendously appreciated, and i thank you for the time and effort you put into it, posting them...and that applies, to all who supplies us with the visuals..
​

 

[GetSmart]

Thank You..for your kind words.. They really helped me understand alot.. and I have a few more I am working on that convienced me ..with no doubt in my mind that it was locals .. there is no way in this world someone that did not know that area could have found that road ..no way ...
....This was stated in an article also..
The isolated road is little more than a dirt path closed in by thick trees and underbrush. The former Placker home is the only residence in sight for roughly a mile or more.
http://ndepth.newsok.com/weleetka

On the photo thread Toms Girl has posted several pics of the ..
Bridge over Bad Creek/Investigation Crew
[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66467"]Photos, maps, other images ***NO DISCUSSION*** - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community[/ame]

so maybe that answers my question about looking for gun .. but those pics just show survey like equip or camera tri-pod I dont see any of them in wadders digging in muck or attempting to "drain stream to look under water ... Just saying...

 

[Mysterylover]

GSmart,
I would like to think that LE searched the water etc........ for the guns.

I always wondered if LE searched the pond behind the Plackers home for the weapons.
I would like to assume they did but, in this case, I assume nothing. :rolleyes.........:

Ruflossn, This convinces me to assume we do not know all the details, assuming nothing is correct.

This is the first I have heard of a pond behind the P's house.

The pond or the river would be an excellent place to quickly dispose of 2 stolen guns.

The second new detail I learned this week, was of a path through the bushes, from the tree where the girls was shot, straight to the P. house.

Strangely, Two important details that has taken a year for us to learn.

 

[Mysterylover]

There is a path in the woods that goes straight from the P house to that tree.
It was made by Taylor and the other kids.
The kids would sit under that tree in the shade, talk and hang out. The landlord/owner of the house told me this himself. I have photos of the path and will post on here as soon as I can figure out how to do that.

Arizona, This picture gives us a clear understanding of how remote this road really was.
The remoteness of this area and sparse population would make it seem to be a simple case to solve.
I'm convinced someone very local and near-by did these murders. So how did they get rid of the murder weapons so quickly that day?
Quote:
Their bodies were found in a shallow roadside ditch, less than 1,000 feet from the Placker home.

Autopsy reports on the girls showed they had been shot a total of 13 times.

Skyla, the youngest, was shot eight times, and she suffered the most .40-caliber bullet wounds.

Authorities noted that each of the girls was shot with two weapons.

The medical examiner recovered spent bullets from their bodies and described them as small- and medium-sized.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Ruflossn, This convinces me to assume we do not know all the details, assuming nothing is correct.

This is the first I have heard of a pond behind the P's house.

The pond or the river would be an excellent place to quickly dispose of 2 stolen guns.

The second new detail I learned this week, was of a path through the bushes, from the tree where the girls was shot, straight to the P. house.

Strangely, Two important details that has taken a year for us to learn.

It really bothers me no one mentioned it before now. I do recall reading in an article somewhere there was a treehouse with a path where the girls hung out, but it certainly did not sound like this was the tree. Knowing there is more than one way back and forth to the house which is easy access to the crime scene is critical.

It makes me take another look at the grandfather and family. The information that by vehicle it is one minute to the tree and two minutes to the bridge is also important.

 

[Ruflossn]

Ruflossn, This convinces me to assume we do not know all the details, assuming nothing is correct.

This is the first I have heard of a pond behind the P's house.

The pond or the river would be an excellent place to quickly dispose of 2 stolen guns.

The second new detail I learned this week, was of a path through the bushes, from the tree where the girls was shot, straight to the P. house.

Strangely, Two important details that has taken a year for us to learn.

I would concur that we do not know all the details about this case. Nor should we. LE always keeps some evidence from the public so that when they have a suspect, they can more readily exclude or include them in being a serious contender for the perpetrator.

As for the path and the pond. I thought the pond had been discussed before. On more than one occasion, I have been to Weleetka. (Once recently) The pond that was behind the Plackers is not overly large but, Mr. Placker did fish the pond. I mention that because it will help in understanding the size of the pond. It is not large, but it is large enough to support fish. I think I have a picture of the pond. When time permits, I will try and find it. If I do, I will put the picture on WS.

I am not convinced the girls took the path when walking to or from the bridge. In my scenario, I believe the girls walked along the dirt road from the Plackers home to the bridge. They made it to the bridge and were walking back towards the house when they were shot / killed. However, I can imagine the murderer(s) taking the path as they followed the girls. The
perp(s) would likely take this path in order to conceal themselves from others that may have been travelling the dirt road. When the perp(s) saw the girls returning from the bridge, they left the safety of the foliage, confronted the girls and eventually shot them.

IMO, the perp(s) who shot the girls knew them. I think they were young and very angry. Possibly on drugs. I do not think they "meant" to kill Taylor and Skyla. I think they meant to intimidate / scare them into agreeing w/ whatever the perp(s) were demanding. Things went desperately awry and the first gun discharged. At that point in time, a split decision was made to kill both of the girls.

As for who could have committed this crime - I would look at people who are already in jail. People who might have family in the Weleetka / Henryetta area. Why turn a family member in for this crime, if he is already in prison for another?

Again, this is all my opinion. My very elementary opinion that is based on nothing other than my year long thoughts on this terrible crime.