Jack the Ripper in Oklahoma
No homicide is kind, but few are as cruel as what happened to Audrey Harris back in 1989.
Eviscerated while still alive.
No one should suffer a fate like that.
For most of the years since Harris, 75, was killed, her story has remained largely unknown. The case is familiar to some law officers, attorneys and criminology students, but the public never really learned what happened to her — at least not until now.
The Oklahoman, the state’s newspaper of record, carried three previous stories on Harris’ death. One spelled out the bare details of a breaking news story. Another briefly noted that her husband had been charged in her death. The last, and longest, was published after the charges against her husband were dropped.
For well over a decade, that was all. Few knew the horrific facts behind her death, the torture she suffered, the indignity, the nightmare. Few knew how an aging woman fell victim to one of Oklahoma’s most diabolical fiends. Harris was largely forgotten.
But not any more.
Hopefully, with wider exposure will come new leads in a case that has stymied detectives for more than 18 years. Hopefully, someone will come forward with information — even if that information points to someone who has died in the intervening years.
Now that we know Harris’ story, we need to know who killed her and why.
So forward the story to others you know. Make sure people see it. The more eyes are on it, the more likely it is that someone will remember something — anything — that could solve this case.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
This is a very sad story. Once again the police focused on one suspect, thinking they had it solved I believe they stopped looking at the most important time and missed this person whether he was visiting or had escaped from somewhere. It seems to happen in all the unsolved cases, you would think they would learn from the repeated mistake. They seem to forget that if they fail some other innocent person may die, and that has happened.
Debbie, did you read all the information available prior to commenting? Please consider applying with the police department. I’m sure you could teach them a thing or two!
Gary,
Yes I did read all the information available. I still come to the same concluson. It has happened time and time again. We seem to forget many times if these cases are not solved another innocent person is likely killed. I lost a very good friend in a murder and it remains unsolved almost 20 years later, the local police focused on one and could not prove it so they stopped looking. I’m sorry if I offended you, you are probably a police officer.
Just a theory (which im sure you have already considered):
This crime was deliberate, but not a crime of passion. Deliberate because it could have been an initiation into a group. Possibly a satanic cult. Were all of the organs still present, or were some missing? He lived nearby, was new to the area, was in a low income bracket, didnt have any friends and needed to fit in. He did this crime b/c he had to in order to belong to his group. He was not an experienced criminal and possibly hasnt comitted any crimes since. Although if that were true, his conscience probably would have gottten to him by now. He no longer lives in this area. At the time of the murder, he probably attended the high school in that area. Or, if he didnt live in that area, he regularly visited someone in that building. Possibly the victim was chosen by another cult member. Maybe someone in the building knew someone in a cult.