Carol Daniels: When Murder becomes Mystery

On Sunday, August 23rd, 2009, Carol Daniels’ body was found murdered, mutilated and staged in a small church in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Since the discovery the murder has quickly gone to “mystery” as the local police and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI) work the investigation behind a barrier of silence and lack of communication with the local media. At this time little to nothing is known of the state of the investigation, and only leaks in the first days after the murder from unnamed sources reported to be involved or close to the investigation have given what little information is public about the scene and nature of the crime. I have chosen to write about this murder not only because it took place just an hour and half from my own home, but because the initial indications point to the possibility of a serial killer. While some experts will argue that point, the scant evidence released to date (primarily by leaks, brief public statements, and the reaction of those involved in the investigation), it is my personal opinion there is a killer at large who will strike again.

The Victim

The Reverend Carol Daniels was 61 years old at the time of her murder. For six years she had served as the pastor at the Christ Holy Sanctified Church, a small Pentecostal church in Anadarko, Oklahoma which didn’t have a regular congregation. For those six years, unpaid, Carol would drive the 65 miles from her home in Oklahoma City, arriving at about 10 a.m. each Sunday, and she would unlock the front doors of the small wood-frame building and prepare to preach a sermon, conduct a lesson, or hold prayer or just visit with any one who chose to drop in that day. Carol had once told her mother that she had a “calling” to continue to serve the small church in Anadarko whether anyone showed up on a given Sunday or not. She just wanted to be there in case they needed her.

The Location

Anadarko is situated in Caddo County in the western part of Oklahoma approximately 65 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. It has a population of approximately 6500 people with approximately 45 to 50% of the population being of Native American descent, 9% Hispanic, 6% African-American and the remainder Caucasian and other ethnicities. The town’s history has always been centered around the Native American tribes that located in the area. The modern name “Anadarko” comes a form of the Indian name “Na-da-ka” and the city was chosen as the headquarters for the Comanche, Apache, Kiowa and Wichita indian tribes in 1878. These tribes are locally referred to as being of the “uncivilized tribes” primarily because they were not included in the “Five Civilized Tribes” within Indian Territory. More appropriately they are considered the “southern plains tribes”, and a museum for the Southern Plains Indian has been located in Anadarko since 1947. The area is poor with a median household income of around $24,000. However, relatively speaking, the town is a safe place to live. When Carol Daniels’ body was found on August 23rd it became only the second homicide in Anadarko for the year 2009.

The Christ Holy Sanctified church is located just 1/2 block from the Anadarko Police department in a predominantly African-American neighborhood. It is in a location surrounded by both residential houses and businesses including a car wash across the street, and a convenience store, the Step n Fetch, just down the street. As stated previously, it has no regular congregation and the doors were only open on Sundays when Rev. Daniels was there. But a key piece of information is that the doors were always open from the time the pastor arrived until she left each Sunday to return to her home in Oklahoma City.

(Photo courtesy of NewsOK.com)

The Timeline

Carol Daniels arrived at the church right at 10 a.m. that morning. A surveillance camera at the convenience store just down the street captured her arrival. She parked her car in front of the church as she always did. At this time it is unknown if the surveillance camera was able to capture anything from the back of the church, which appears to be of great interest to the investigators as we will discuss later.

As previously mentioned, Rev. Daniels always unlocked the front doors of the church upon her arrival and left them open to anyone who wanted to come in through-out her Sunday morning stays. At 11:40 am Silkey Wilson, Jr. and his wife Julia, an elderly couple who made frequent Sunday visits with Rev. Daniels, arrived at the church. When they tried to enter they found the front doors locked. With Daniels’ car parked in front of the church, this was odd and the elderly couple began knocking on the door and windows to try to get Daniels to come to the door. When unsuccessful they became concerned something was wrong and traveled the half block to the Anadarko police department, arriving at 11:51 am, to request that some one check on Daniels. At 12:01 pm Anadarko police officer Ashley Burris arrived at the church and briefly visited with the Wilsons who had returned to the church and were waiting out front. Officer Burris attempts entry through several doors, finding them all locked, and forcibly enters through the side door of the church. At 12:04 pm, after finding Daniels’ body, Burris radios the police department requesting back-up and stating “the killer is not in custody”. By 12:05 pm the Anadarko police department had secured the crime scene and by 1 pm had contacted the OSBI for assistance.

The Crime Scene

As stated, little information has come out about the details of the crime scene. And what details have been divulged have been via leaks that have not been confirmed by officials. However, what officials have said, and done, so far in the wake of the murder have not been comforting. Bret Burns, District Attorney, has described the crime scene within the church as “horrific” and the “one of the most brutal” he has ever seen in his 17 years as a prosecutor. Burns has stated “Her murder was an evil act of someone who does not value the sanctity of life.” Statements made by sources involved in the investigation have described the killing as “methodical” in nature and the crime scene as “bone-chilling” and “spooky”.

The investigators spent 15 hours working the crime scene. When they left, they took the backdoor of the church with them. What has been leaked so far is that Daniels’ body was found behind the altar, lying facedown, completely nude, with her hair burned, and “staged” in a “cruciform” position. The killer, before leaving, is said to have sprayed the crime scene around Daniels’ body with an undisclosed “dissolving agent” and left with all of Daniels’ clothing. The murder appears to have been well planned. In the wake of the murder, DA Burns held a meeting with local church leaders in which he discussed security measures they needed to put in place. Burns stated the meeting was to give the religious leaders of the community assistance to “better understand the situation and take appropriate steps to remain vigilant.” Ministers who were interviewed by local news agencies after the meeting stated they were fearful to speak publicly. This meeting would hint that law enforcement believe Daniels was murdered, possibly, due to her ministerial service. With the vacuum of information being released concerning the investigation, we are left to explore this theory based on the partial autopsy results released to date and the small amount of information leaked.

The Investigation

To date authorities have stated they have no suspect in the murder. The OSBI has attempted to prevent release of information, including the autopsy, associated with the investigation. The Medical Examiner’s office was contacted on August 25th by the OSBI and requested to not release the cause and manner of death. The ME’s office complied for a short time that day, but eventually released part of the autopsy citing requirements of release under the state’s open records act. Even the initial incident report from the Anadarko police department, which is required under the open records act to be released upon request was withheld until September 2nd. Once released it contained little information other than the names of the responding officers and the fact the body was found lying face down. A search warrant was issued on September 24th, but even that was sealed. One local media source has since discovered that part of the warrant was a subpoena to obtain information associated with the myspace of a local rock band, Napalm Reign. Even the family began to complain they were being kept in the dark as far as any details into the slaying of their loved one.

One homeless man, Robert Richardson (a.k.a. “Florida kid”), who spends his nights sleeping in the equipment room of the car wash across the street from the church, claims to have seen a man running from the church on the 23rd. Richardson states, “Suddenly, I looked up and saw this man leaving the church all covered in blood.” “I was shocked. He was a big guy…black, bald head, and he was carrying a knife. He turned [north along Broadway Avenue], though, so I didn’t get a good look at his face. I think he was wearing some sort of overalls, but to be honest, I couldn’t tell.” “At the time, I looked around the corner, he was coming out of the front door…[he] had something like a ski mask on [and] was covered in blood.” Mr. Richardson’s account seems to have been dismissed by law enforcement (though that cannot be confirmed).

While covering the story, a CNN satellite truck operator found a knife on the property of the car wash. The knife was decribed to be 8 to 10 inches long. It was immediately reported to law enforcement who submitted it for forensic analysis. It was later reported to not be considered connected with the crime. OSBI spokesman Steve Neuman stated the knife appeared to have been in the location it was discovered for “a long time”.

Immediately after the murder, Alicia Theif, who lives next door to the church and has a rent house two doors down from the church, reported to police that she had discovered, just prior to the murder, that the cellar of her rent house had been broken into and that it appeared some one had been staying there. Shortly afterward investigators were seen carrying evidence from the cellar. It has not been stated whether law enforcement believe there is any connection between the evidence retrieved from this cellar and the murder of Carol Daniels.

*Due to the graphic nature of the continuance of this article, I have chosen to require the reader to click through to the entire article. Please be warned the rest of this entry contains content of a graphic nature.

The Autopsy

It is important to note that only portions of the autopsy have been released to date. The first autopsy release contained the manner and cause of death along with the drawings of trauma to the body. As seen in the drawings, Daniels’ body was mutilated. Of particular interest is the mutilation to the left breast that is indicated to have happened post-mortem, and the near decapitation due to repeated cuts at the neck and throat that extended around the base of the head, and which was most likely the cause of death. In addition, it can be seen that a portion of Daniels’ hair was burned off leaving singes on her scalp. Daniels’ hands exhibited defensive wounds indicating she fought for her life. Authorities have refused, to date, to state whether Daniels was sexually assaulted or not.

Spiritual or Sexual?

As intimated by the meeting Burns held with local church leaders, it appears (though their silence can neither confirm nor deny) that authorities believe the attack was associated with Daniels’ position as a minister. Since little to no details of the crime scene have been released, it can be speculated that this is either based solely on the fact the murder took place in a church, or because there were additional “signs” intentionally left at the crime scene such as writings, placement of evidence, etc. to indicate the crime may have been committed with an attack on religion, ritualistic, or some other way a form of spiritual assault. However, based solely on the description of the staging of the body and the autopsy results released to date, it appears the murder is more sexual in nature, and there are indications this could be a serial killer who will strike again.

Picquerism

Referred to as the “Clairemont Killer”, Cleophus Prince, Jr. was the focus of the largest-manhunt in San Diego’s history during the 9 months in which he carried out his sick and violent murders of 6 women in the area. Prince was a bold serial killer in that his attacks occurred in daylight hours, most often between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm, and in the very homes of the victims. As he became more confident and in need of more gratification and control, Prince moved to managing, murdering and mutilating multiple victims within the same home. Prince has been classified as having a signature described as picquerism.

Picquerism is loosely defined as a signature of a sexual killer in which the instrument of death – a knife – is used as a secondary sexual mechanism and in which the murder and mutilation of the victim is a means of sexual gratification. Within this signature is found some recurring aspects of the murder:

* Murder weapon is a knife

* Mutilation of the body, most often in the breast area

* Posing or staging of the body – most often posing

* Sexual gratification through denigration of the body both during the attack (mutilation) and after the attack (mutilation that occurs after the murder, staging/posing of the body)

* The attacker will tend to masturbate, leading to ejaculation after the murder and near the body

* The attacker will tend to take a trophy – most often a piece of clothing or jewelry

In comparing the autopsy drawings of the wounds and, more specifically, the postmortem mutilation of Daniels body, as well as the reported positioning of the body, to that of the victims of the Clairemont Killer, we find disturbing similarities that cannot be dismissed.

(Autopsy drawings depicting mutilation to Carol Daniels’ left breast)

Staging or Posing?

The reports from the crime scene where Daniels was murdered have referenced possible “staging” of the body. While the current silence on the investigation prevents one from knowing if this is still the term they are using, or whether it ever had validity in the first place, there is a significant importance to whether “staging” did, in fact, take place or whether “posing” took place. There is a subtle difference between staging and posing of a body – at least to the layman’s eyes. But to the professional profiler, it is an extremely important difference. John Douglas describes the interpretative importance between the two in Mindhunter:

“Staging…appears in crimes where the offender is trying to throw off the investigation by making the police believe that something happened other than what did, such as a rapist tries to make his intrusion look like a routine burglary. That would be an aspect of MO. Posing, on the other hand, would be signature.

We don’t get that many cases of posing…treating the victim like a prop to leave a specific message…These are crimes of anger, crimes of power. It’s the thrill of the hunt, it is the thrill of the kill, and it is the thrill afterwards of how that subject leaves that victim and how he’s basically beating the system.”

So the question becomes – was Daniels’ body staged, or posed, or neither? If Daniels’ body was staged the possibly could be that the claims of a “cruciform” staging could have been an intended distraction to misdirect law enforcement into believing the murder was of a religious or anti-religious nature when, in fact, the attack was sexual in nature. If it was posed, then there is the possibility that we have a serial killer whose signature could fall within the “piquerism” classification.

The public has so little to go on that speculation is all that can be done at this point. The actions of Brett Burns in meeting with local clergy to assist them in increasing their vigilance would point to a concern that the attack was a deliberate denigration of the sanctuary. And since we have not been informed as to whether the murder included a sexual assault on Carol Daniels, at this time we are left to suspect that the attack is, in fact, considered religious in nature. However, we are also left to wonder if there are things, yet undisclosed, that point to a sexual serial killer who is ready to strike again.

I have an indirect contact to the investigation, as well as an indirect contact to the OSBI, and both have stated they cannot talk, while the OSBI agent, who is not involved in the investigation has stated that even within the agency those involved in the investigation are being very closed-mouthed. The one law enforcement agent who has knowledge of the investigation simply stated “it’s bad…very, very bad”.

Valhall.

References:

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-pastor-found-slain-in-anadarko/article/3395417

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=15560

http://www.doi.gov/iacb/museums/museum_s_plains.html

http://newsok.com/slain-preachers-body-was-in-staged-position-anadarko-investigator-said/article/3396047

http://newsok.com/slaying-details-of-oklahoma-city-pastor-shocking/article/3396862

http://newsok.com/fear-follows-anadarko-pastors-death/article/3396758

http://newsok.com/radio-logs-detail-day-of-anadarko-pastors-slaying/article/3398518

http://newsok.com/da-oklahoma-city-pastors-death-in-anadarko-was-horrific-one-of-the-most-brutal/article/3395591

http://newsok.com/anadarko-ministers-meet-with-sheriff-district-attorney/article/3395928

http://newsok.com/anadarko-slaying-victims-family-say-officials-kept-them-in-dark/article/3398639