1978 — June 22, drifters kill family of 3; 6 steakhouse workers/July 16, Purcell & OK City, OK– 9

–9 The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City. “Drifter shoots, kills 6 workers at steak house (July 16, 1978),” 7-15-2008.
–9 The Register, Orange County, CA. “Convicted Killer Goes on Trial Again.” 2-25-1980, A5.

Narrative Information

2008, The Oklahoman: “….[Roger Dale] Stafford, 43, lived on death row for more than 15 years after his conviction for the 1978 murders of six Oklahoma City steak hour employees and a San Antonio military family. His murder spree began in the early morning of June 22, 1978. Stafford, his then-wife, Verna, and his brother, Harold, had feigned car trouble along Interstate 35 north of Purcell [OK]. Air Force Sgt. Melvin Lorenz, his wife, Linda, and their 12-year-old son, Richard, stopped to help. All three were shot to death.

“Three weeks later, the Staffords hung out inside the Sirloin Stockage at SW 74 and Pennsylvania until closing time, then herded the six workers into a freezer and shot them. Killed were Isaac Freeman, 56; David Lindsey, 17; David Salsman, 16; Anthony Tew, 17; Louis Zacharias, 43; and Terri Horst, 15. Only Horst made it to the hospital, and she died there.

“Harold Stafford died in a motorcycle accident in Tulsa one week after the steak house murders.

“Roger Dale Stafford caused his own demise with a drunken phone call to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on Jan. 3, 1979. The day before, the OSBI had released composite sketches of three people wanted for questioning about all nine murders. Stafford, whose wife had left him by then, identified himself as a trucker and said he recognized two of the people as Harold and Verna Stafford. Two months later, Linvell and another investigator flew to Chicago and arrested Verna Stafford, who quickly snitched on her estranged husband. Three days later he was captured in a YMCA lobby in Chicago.

“His incarceration infuriated Oklahomans, who watched him grow fat and marry twice in prison….” (The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City. “Drifter shoots, kills 6 workers at steak house (July 16, 1978),” 7-15-2008.)

Sources

The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City (Anthony Thornton). “Drifter shoots, kills 6 workers at steak house (July 16, 1978),” 7-15-2008. Accessed 9-24-2021 at: https://www.oklahoman.com/article/3270560/drifter-shoots-kills-6-workers-at-steak-house-july-16-1978?

The Register, Orange County, CA. “Convicted Killer Goes on Trial Again.” 2-25-1980, A5. Accessed 6-18-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/santa-ana-orange-county-register-evening-feb-25-1980-p-14/?tag