Biography[]
Murders[]
Battenfield, along with a 15-year-old accomplice, committed his first murder in June 1977, when he abducted and stabbed to death 51-year-old Thelma Ruth McCarty in McKinney, Texas. After killing her, he dumped her body down a water well.[1] In the following year, on May 3, 1978, he repeated the same act with 75-year-old Jess Leroy Lovelady, who was also stabbed to death and thrown down into the well after Battenfield stole his Social Security Check. At the time, Lovelady was trying to cash it for $1,500.[2] Despite both victims disappearing under suspicious circumstances, police at the time were unable to find any information about what happened to them.[1]
After these murders, Battenfield and his accomplice temporarily traveled to Oregon, before moving back to Texas. Along the way, they came across 83-year-old Edward Elkington, a resident of Los Gatos, California, who was passing by Tucumcari, New Mexico. He was killed in a similar manner to the previous murders, but this time, Battenfield and his accomplice were arrested, with the accomplice later leading police to where the body had been buried. Battenfield was later tried, convicted and sentenced to 10-to-50 years imprisonment for this murder.[2]
In early 1979, Battenfield contacted authorities in McKinney claiming to know viable information about the Lovelady case, as well as two other people missing in the area. He provided them with a drawn map of the well where he had dumped the bodies, and in February 1979, police located it and found the skeletal remains of McCarty and Lovelady in it - there was no sign of a third body.[1] Authorities were able to identify the remains of McCarty via her ID, which was in a purse that was also dumped in the well.[2]
Despite facing a potential sentence of 110 years imprisonment if extradited to Texas, Battenfield remained incarcerated in New Mexico.[3]
Prison escapes[]
In February 1982, Battenfield managed to escape from the New Mexico State Penitentiary, crossing through several states in a bid to evade capture from the police.[4] He crossed through Nevada and Colorado, where he is known to have committed a robbery and rape, respectively, until he eventually ended up in Fresno, California.[3] There, under the alias John Riggs, he worked as a car mechanic and befriended 27-year-old Karen Lynn Arnbrister, a local who sheltered him at her house on Poplar Avenue. On February 23, 1983, Fresno authorities attempted to arrest him, but Battenfield managed to escape them for the time being.[5]
On March 15, the house was surrounded by SWAT officers after being tipped off that Battenfield was hiding there. Unwilling to surrender to authorities, Battenfield got a shotgun and an unspecified automatic weapon and barricaded himself inside the house, engaging in a five-hour standoff with the officers.[4] During the standoff, police fired tear gas into the house in an attempt to get him out of the house - in response, Battenfield fired at them with the automatic weapon.[5] At one point, Arnbrister was brought in and given a bullhorn, with the intention of asking him to surrender, but this effort failed. Eventually, Battenfield was overwhelmed by the tear gas and exited the house, whereupon he was immediately arrested by officers.[4]
In regards to the siege, Battenfield pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and waived his right to fight extradition from California, in exchange for facing the charges in Nevada and Colorado.[3] Instead, he was moved to serve his sentences in Texas, where he was incarcerated at the Ellis Unit in Huntsville.
On May 9, 1986, Battenfield, along with 49-year-old Hercules Gann - who was serving three 35-year sentences for theft - attempted to escape from the Wynne Unit by hiding inside a tractor-trailer truck. However, they were both unaware that the truck's next destination was the Wynne Unit, where they were both caught.[6]
Release and new murder[]
Sometime circa 2000, Battenfield was transferred to New Mexico's custody again, after the Texas Department of Corrections ruled that he had received enough credits for good behavior.[7] In June 2011, he was paroled and allowed to move to Norman, Oklahoma.[8] Despite his multiple convictions for murder and convictions for other violent crimes, he was not placed under any special supervision and had no limitations placed on his movement.[7]
Sometime after his release, Battenfield got acquainted with 19-year-old Brandon Ke Reed, a homeless felon who had convictions for burglary, arson, drug possession and animal cruelty.[8] Reed was provided with financial assistance by 80-year-old social worker Clair Owen Pollard, who had been helping the young man ever since he first met him at a Braum's in 2009.[7]
On November 21, 2011, Battenfield and Reed broke into Pollard's house to steal money and valuables from him. When Pollard came across them, the pair proceeded to beat, stab, and smother him.[9] They then stole credit cards, jewelry and radios and immediately fled, leaving Pollard to succumb from his injuries about an hour after the assault. Two days later, Battenfield and Reed were arrested after authorities traced the stolen credit cards to them, as they were recorded using them in different stores around Norman.[9]
Prosecution[]
In early December 2011, Battenfield and Reed were both charged with first-degree murder, and detained at the Cleveland County Jail. District Attorney Greg Mashburn met with Pollard's family to discuss how they wanted to proceed, as the death penalty was a possible option due to the violent nature of the murder and Battenfield's previous crimes. On the other hand, Reed agreed to cooperate with authorities and provide information that could be used against Battenfield at trial.[9] Gregg McCrary, a criminal profiler who worked for the FBI, stated in an interview with The Daily Oklahoman that Battenfield classifies as a serial killer due to his multiple murders, and that he was an example of one who always worked with accomplices.[10]
In September 2012, Battenfield pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. As part of the plea, he admitted that he was guilty of the murder and that while Reed did indeed help him, he was not a direct participant in the murder.[11] On December 17, he wrote a letter to Cleveland County Judge Steve Stice to complain that he was still stuck in county jail and has not been transferred to a state prison due to overcrowding.[12]
Victims[]
| Name | Age | Date of Death | Cause of Death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thelma Ruth McCarty | 51 | June 1977 | Stabbing |
| Jess Leroy Lovelady | 75 | May 3, 1978 | Stabbing |
| Edward Elkington | 83 | 1978 | Stabbing |
| Clair Owen Pollard | 80 | November 21, 2011 | Stabbing |
Timeline[]
Bibliography[]
Literature[]
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Television[]
YouTube Documentaries[]
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In popular culture[]
Film adaptation[]
Related Articles[]
See also[]
Links[]
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Investigators Find Remains of 2 Bodies. Abilene Reporter-News (February 5, 1979).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Skeletons In Well Under Probe. Longview News-Journal (February 5, 1979).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Escaped killer pleads guilty to resisting arrest. The Fresno Bee (June 28, 1983).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jim Steinberg (March 16, 1983). Escape cornered in house (p. 2). The Fresno Bee.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jim Steinberg (March 16, 1983). Escape cornered in house (p. 1). The Fresno Bee.
- ↑ A (not too) great escape. The Ottawa Citizen (May 10, 1986).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Update In Norman Killing Case Planned. KOCO News 5 (December 1, 2011). Archived from the original on April 14, 2024.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lisa Monahan and Dana Hertneky (November 21, 2011). TWO ARRESTED IN NORMAN MURDER HAVE LENGTHY RECORDS. Newson6. Archived from the original on April 14, 2024.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Andrew Knittle (December 3, 2011). Records offer details in slaying of Norman man. The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on April 14, 2011.
- ↑ Andrew Knittle (November 29, 2011). Profiler calls murder suspect in Norman death 'serial killer'. The Daily Oklahoman.
- ↑ Andrew Knittle (September 5, 2012). 'Serial killer' pleads guilty to killing Norman man, gets life without parole. The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on August 26, 2023.
- ↑ Andrew Knittle (January 20, 2013). Letter from killer highlights county jail backlog problems. The Daily Oklahoman.