You will identify the first four felony crimes committed by the suspect(s) by documenting them along with the elements of the crime that must be proven during trial. Identify the evidence you have for each crime and the witness who will introduce it to the court. If you decide to charge one suspect with a particular crime but not the other suspect, explain what prevented you from charging both suspects.
On September 21, 2023, Chuck M. from Tennessee was driving west bound on I-40 going to California. Chuck saw a white male hitchhiking, so he pulled over and picked him up. The hitchhiker was Charles W., and he was trying to get to California. Neither Chuck nor Charles had much money between them.
Chuck had just been released from the Tennessee Department of Corrections for robbery of a convenience store in Tennessee. Chuck had received a ten-year sentence with seven of it suspended. Chuck was on parole and decided to leave Tennessee instead of completing his parole. Charles had just recently been released from the Tennessee Department of Corrections for possession of a controlled dangerous substance. Charles had received a two-year sentence for his crime. He was released early for good behavior and had no parole time.
By the time they got to Oklahoma City they had enough money for two tanks of gas and two nights of motel room between them. While in Oklahoma City Chuck was able to buy a black powder six shot pistol. Charles was not with Chuck when he bought the pistol. After buying the pistol they did not have enough money to pay for the motel room, so they left without paying their motel bill.
After driving one hundred and twenty miles west of Oklahoma City on I-40 Chuck stopped at a truck stop filled his car up with gas. The two went inside and bought gloves and ski masks that covered their heads except for the eyes and noses. After leaving the truck stop Chuck took the first highway going north from an I-40 exit. He drove 23 miles and turned east on another highway driving eight miles before turning north on a country road. They drove by three or four farmhouses before turning around and driving back to the last one they had driven by. It was an older one-story frame farmhouse, and the front door faced the north, and the back door was on the south side. There were two vehicles parked in the driveway and an attached double garage was on the east side of the house. It was approximately 11:30 a.m. when Chuck and Charles arrived at the house.
Inside the house was Rhonda S. and her best friend Karen W. Also in the house were Rhonda’s two baby girls. Pam was 2 years old, and Becky was 10 months old. Rhonda’s husband had left for work around 7:00 a.m. that morning. Karen had driven from town to visit Rhonda around 10:00 a.m. that morning.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. the two women were in the back den and the two babies were in their bedroom when Chuck knocked on the back door. Rhonda went to the back door that was on the south wall of the den. Chuck was wearing gloves and a ski mask that he had bought earlier that morning at the truck stop. When Rhonda answered the door Chuck raised his pistol and Rhonda put her hand out and Chuck shot her in the hand. Chuck entered the house and he and Rhonda fought. During the struggle Rhonda yelled at Karen to get the babies and get out the front door. Karen ran to the girls’ room. Rhonda continued to fight with Chuck. Ronda had broken Chuck’s glasses during the fight. She pulled Chuck’s ski mask off during the fight. Chuck shot Rhonda in the head, but she continued to fight with Chuck. She finally decides to get out of the house knowing Karen had taken the babies and ran out the front door. Rhonda runs through the dining room into the kitchen, through the laundry room and into the garage. Once she gets out of the garage, she sees Chuck’s car and it is running. She jumps in the car, drives to the road and heads to town to get help.
After Charles heard two shots fired, he exited the car and walked around to the back of the house where the back door was. Charles opens the back door but does not enter the house. Chuck walks to the girls’ bedroom where he finds the two girls and Karen. Karen is holding the two-year-old and the ten-month-old is in her baby bed. Chuck shoots Karen in the head. Karen falls to the floor and dies there in the bedroom.
Chuck searches the house for money, and he does find Rhonda’s billfold and gets $20 out of it. Before leaving Chuck starts a fire in the kitchen to burn the house down to destroy any evidence. Chuck walks out the back door and he and Charles go to get in Chuck’s car to leave. When they get to where the car was parked it is not there. They did not know Rhonda had stolen their car. They find keys to Rhonda’s four-wheeler. They get on the four-wheeler and head back south on the farm road. They make it to the highway before running out of gas. They received a ride from several people in a pickup. Chuck and Charles had to sit in the bed of the pickup because there was not enough room up front. Chuck had fired four rounds in the house, and he only had two bullets in the pistol. So, he was afraid to take on the four people in the pickup.
The fire in the house went out on its own and the two babies were not hurt. Law enforcement was notified and upon arrival at the farmhouse they found the two children unharmed, but Karen had died from a gunshot to the back of the head. They noticed a burned area in the kitchen, but it had gone out before law enforcement arrived.
The two suspects were dropped off at a truck stop in town. Chuck put the pistol in the trash and the two of them decided to hitchhike back to I-40. Rhonda makes it to the hospital and was able to tell law enforcement what had happened. She was able to describe the white male who shot her. She was not sure, but she may have gotten a glance of another white male. Chuck and Charles were arrested by law enforcement while attempting to hitchhike out of town. It was obvious Rhonda had described Chuck as the shooter.
Charles told investigating officers he did not go into the house and did not know Chuck was going to shoot anyone. Charles believed Chuck was checking to see if anyone was at home and if they were people there the two of them would leave to find a house where no one was there and steal things. Charles gave a full statement to the investigating officers. He told law enforcement where the gun was, and investigators were able to recover it from the trash at the truck stop.
Chuck never denied the crimes he committed he just could not recall doing it. In his statement to investigators, he told them he does not remember doing anything illegal but if they said he did those crimes he should get the death penalty. Investigators asked Chuck where his eyeglasses might be. He did not know and did not know why there was a lens from eyeglasses in his shirt pocket.
During the search of the suspects’ car investigators found a motel key from a Best Western in Oklahoma City, a receipt from the gun shop where the pistol had been purchased by Chuck, and a receipt where gloves and ski masks had been purchased from a truck stop on I-40. Investigators were able to retrieve the tape from the truck stop on I-40 where Chuck and Charles bought the gloves and ski mask. The video tape revealed both suspects were in the store and getting those items. The gloves and ski masks were found on the side of the road four miles south of the farmhouse.
The crime scene at the farmhouse was photographed and the following evidence was collected: projectile from the wall in the den, blood samples taken from blood in the den, pair of eyeglasses from the floor in the den and the eyeglasses had the left side lens missing. Also, burnt debris collected from the kitchen area. All rooms of the farmhouse were photographed.
Ballistic revealed the projectile was the same caliber as the gun that was retrieved from the truck stop trash. The lens recovered from Chuck’s shirt pocket matched the eyeglasses found in the farmhouse. The blood collected from the farmhouse was DNA tested and it matched Rhonda’s DNA. The blood collected from the children’s bedroom matched the DNA of Karen.
The Oklahoma medical examiner reported Karen’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head by a large caliber weapon and ruled her death as a homicide.
All criminal activity mentioned above was done in Oklahoma.
