The grieving mother-in-law of the Oklahoma sex offender accused of killing six people including her daughter and three grandchildren said that he lied to her family about his criminal past.
The Oklahoma State of Bureau Investigations (OSBI) announced on Monday that seven bodies were found on the Henryetta property of 39-year-old convict Jesse McFadden.
Okmulgee police chief Joe Prentice said that the victims had each been shot in the head one to three times with a 9 mm pistol when they were found near a creek and in a heavily wooded area in rural Oklahoma.
The gruesome discovery was made after two teens went missing in the area on Sunday, and McFadden failed to show up in court on Monday morning to stand trial on charges of soliciting sexual conduct with a minor and possession of child sex abuse images.
The bodies were identified by the family of victims as that of McFadden’s wife Holly Guess, 35; her children Rylee Elizabeth Allen, 17; Michael James Mayo, 15; and Tiffany Dore Guess, 13; two missing teens 14-year-old Ivy Webster; 15-year-old Brittany Brewer; and McFadden.
McFadden apparently had moved the bodies there from where they were originally killed and “staged” the scene before he killed himself, Mr Prentice said in the first major update on the case.
Holly Guess’s mother Janette Mayo told the Associated Press that while McFadden married her daughter in May 2022, the family didn’t learn about his criminal history until a few months ago.
“He lied to my daughter, and he convinced her it was all just a huge mistake,” said Ms Mayo, of Westville. “He was very standoffish, generally very quiet, but he kept my daughter and the kids basically under lock and key. He had to know where they were at all times, which sent red flags up.”
Authorities began a search after McFadden failed to appear at his long-delayed jury trial on Monday in Muskogee County. His body was later discovered along with his wife, her son and daughters, and two other teens who were visiting the family over the weekend.
McFadden, who was sentenced to 20 years in 2003 for first-degree rape, was freed three years early, in part for good behaviour, despite facing new charges that he used a contraband cell phone to trade nude photos with the young woman in 2016. He was released in 2020 after 16 years and nine months, even though the charges could send him back to prison for many years if convicted.
“And they rushed him out of prison. How?" asked Ms Mayo as she lashed out at the authorities for his earlier release. “Oklahoma failed to protect families. And because of that my children – my daughter and my grandchildren – are all gone.
“I’ve lost my daughter and my grandchildren and I’m never going to get to see ’em, never going to get to hold them, and it’s killing me.”
Additional reporting from the wires
