Questions keep mounting over the investigation of a murder-suicide at the property of a convicted rapist where seven bodies were discovered last week.
Following the gruesome findings on Jesse McFadden’s property on 1 May, dive teams with the Oklahoma State of Bureau Investigations (OSBI) have been spotted using sonar devices at one of the ponds neighbouring the scene of the heinous crime that sent shockwaves in the community of Henryetta, KJRH reports.
The Medical Examiner and excavation crews were also at the property until Monday evening.
The development is especially compelling in light of revelations by a neighbour of McFadden who told the network last week that they had seen somebody digging the pond about six months ago. When confronted, the individual reportedly said they meant to expand the pond, despite there being no apparent reason to do so.
It comes amid reports, also from KJRH, that a family of the victims found a ledger at the crime scene with a list of unknown names and ages — the last final names being those of the six victims shot dead by McFadden last week before he turned the gun on himself.
The Independent has reached out to the OSBI for comment on the possibility that McFadden may have been the individual digging the pond last year, and whether the agency is investigating other potential crimes at the property.
The Office of the Medical Examiner confirmed last week that McFadden’s wife Holly Guess, 35, and her children Rylee Elizabeth Allen, 17, Michael James Mayo, 15, and Tiffany Dore Guess, 13 were among the deceased. Tiffany’s friends Ivy Webster, 14, and Brittany Brewer, 15, were the two other murder victims.
Before dive teams began a second processing of the scene on Saturday (6 May), KFOR revealed that authorities left behind a trove of stomach-churning evidence at McFadden’s property after releasing the scene just days before the bodies were found. While touring the residence with the owner’s authorisation, a crew of reporters found hand restraints, sex toys and drug paraphernalia that have since been seized by Okmulgee Police.
Local law enforcement agencies have faced scrutiny for both the handling of the murder investigation and McFadden’s botched trial on charges of soliciting and child pornography.
McFadden, who was on the state sex offender registry, was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl in 2003 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He had an early release in 2020, in part for good behaviour, despite being hit with fresh charges in 2017 after he was caught exchanging lewd pictures with a teen while in jail.
After his release in October 2020, McFadden was arrested the next month and then released on a $25,000 bond pending trial, which was repeatedly delayed, partially due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
McFadden’s rape victim Krystle Strong and cellmate James Fleming told The Independent last week that they separately contacted several law enforcement agencies in a fruitless attempt to stop his release and warn authorities that he was a danger to the community.
A spokesperson with Henryetta Police Department said that McFadden’s address was located in an unincorporated part of Okmulgee County, where his registration was up to date, and deferred to Okmulgee Police Department, which did not answer The Independent’s request for comment.
“Due to his home address. Henryetta Police Department would have no records kept of his registration,” Henryetta Police said in a statement.
According to KFOR reporter Erin Christy, several departments in the District 25 task force were initially put in charge of the investigation. Ms Christy said that she was deferred to the OSBI by the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office after Sheriff Eddy Rice declined to clarify the confusion surrounding which agency had the eadership of the case.
“Ultimately, someone needs to say we’ll go through this or that. What did you miss? And if you have people outside your jurisdiction, it doesn’t work well,” Former Tulsa Police Department homicide detective Dave Walker told KFOR. “You gotta be in charge of everything or you’re not in charge of anything.”
Relatives of the victims have expressed disbelief after learning about McFadden’s early release. Ivy and Brittany’s parents have said they did not know McFadden had been convicted of raping a minor, while Guess’ mother has said she only found out very recently.
“And they rushed him out of prison. How?” Guess’ mother Jannette Mayo also told the AP. “Oklahoma failed to protect families. And because of that my children, my daughter and my grandchildren are all gone ... I’m never going to get to see ’em, never going to get to hold them, and it’s killing me.”
