Going West: True Crime - Oklahoma State Fair Murders // 336

Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in today's episode was recommended by Victoria. So thank you so much for tuning in today's episode was recommended by Victoria. So thank you very much Victoria. Yeah, in today's case we're going to be talking about it's kind of like an end of summer case. It takes place at a state fair and also there are two separate disappearances that happen at this state fair. I don't know if they're connected but this is a crazy case. And yeah, I don't want to give anymore aways,

Starting point is 00:00:49 so let's just talk about today's episode. Totally. Before we get into it really, really quick, I just want to mention that we just released the two bonus episodes for the month of August. Those are out on Apple subscriptions and on Patreon. Links are in the description of the episode if you guys want extra episodes. The one we just came out with yesterday,

Starting point is 00:01:07 though, that episode is on Amber Tuckero. It is a crazy case at a Canada about an indigenous woman who went missing when she was hitchhiking. And there's an audio file available. Oh my God, that audio file is so disturbing. It's so disturbing and it's from the drive and it's between her and the driver and her presumed killer.

Starting point is 00:01:29 So if you guys wanna hear that episode and also all, we almost have a hundred other bonus episodes. We've got a ton. If you guys are looking for extra content, but anyway, let's dive into today's case heat. Sorry, one more real quick announcement here. So for the month of September, we're going to try to get those bonus episodes out in the earlier portion. Yeah, sorry, my brain.

Starting point is 00:01:51 The earlier portion of the month, because we are getting married at the end of September, we're really excited. So we're going to try and get that work done beforehand so that we can just enjoy our wedding. Indeed. All right, now we're ready to go. Alright guys, this is episode 336 of Going West, so let's get into it! In September of 1987, two sisters headed to their local state fair in Oklahoma to commemorate the end of summer. But after they failed to meet their brother at the pre-arranged time and place, they were reported missing. When their bodies were discovered weeks later, a local's account would begin a lengthy battle to find justice for the girls.

Starting point is 00:03:11 These are the stories of Lisa Pennington and Cheryl G June 20, 1962 to parent Charlotte and Rocky Pennington in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area. There were four siblings in total, including Cheryl's brothers Ronnie and Allen and then little sister Lisa, who is also a part of the story, and we're going to talk about her in a second. So in 1987, 25-year-old Cheryl married a man named Mike Gensur and took his last name to become Cheryl Genser and took his last name to become Cheryl Genser.

Starting point is 00:04:06 But that same year in the fall of 1987 when Cheryl and her sister Lisa disappeared, Cheryl's marriage wasn't really a thing anymore because one report states that she had recently separated from her husband after their very brief marriage and was living with a friend for the time being, but this was not confirmed by her family. Lisa Marie Pennington, who's Cheryl's little sister, was born on October 6, 1970, so she's about eight years younger. Her family recalled that she loved music, especially Motley crew, and both she and Cheryl

Starting point is 00:04:41 loved fashion, makeup, and getting dressed up. But Lisa was described by one publication as a quote, quiet pretty girl who was every bit a teenager. Allen said of his sister's quote, I remember both of them had beautiful smiles, both were flamboyant. They enjoyed music and enjoyed life. They were still so young. Though it hasn't been made public which tribe they belong to, the girls were Native American, which some say was the reason that the public just wasn't as motivated to solve the case,

Starting point is 00:05:15 unfortunately, but that does seem to play a role here. So on Wednesday, September 23, 1987, the siblings were eager to head out to the Oklahoma State Fair together. Now, the State Fair was and still is a beloved annual tradition in Oklahoma, just like probably every other state with their State Fair, and it has been around since 1907. It features dozens of concession stands, multiple stages with live music and dancing, rides, and barns featuring livestock. So the fair was just not to be missed. This particular year that Cheryl and Lisa were excited to attend, the fair had added performances

Starting point is 00:05:56 by Disney on ice, and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. That fateful Wednesday, Cheryl and Lisa headed to the fair with their brother Alan and his girlfriend. Alan's girlfriend had to be home by 11pm to meet her curfew, so Alan headed out, telling his sisters that he would be back to meet up with them later, and then to take them home. But when he returned to the fairgrounds, they were nowhere to be found. When Alan asked around, he started hearing that the girls had been hanging out with a fair employee who was giving them free rides in the monorail, and that they possibly left

Starting point is 00:06:32 with him and another friend. So according to witnesses, Cheryl and Lisa had been with 31-year-old Lane Henley and 21-year-old Doug Lawson, the latter of whom operated the monorail for the fair. And Cheryl reportedly knew Lane through mutual friends, and Doug and Lane were already friends, so the four just decided to spend the rest of the night together. They were last seen at the fair, but what happened to them after they left is still a complete mystery. When Alan returned home with this information, their parents were alarmed, but wondered if

Starting point is 00:07:05 the girls were just sleeping over at a friend's house and hoped that if they were together that they were safe. Their parents Charlotte and Rocky waited until the weekend to see if maybe the girls had gone off on a jaunt for a few days. But by Sunday September 27th, when the girls still weren't home and hadn't made any contact with them, they knew that something was wrong. And the girls were finally reported missing. So something I wonder about that we couldn't find was the school situation because

Starting point is 00:07:33 basically like I said, they were about eight years apart, but obviously one of their birthdays is, well, Cheryl's birthday was in June, Lisa's birthday was in October. So at this time, Cheryl was 25 and Lisa was 16, almost 17. Yeah, about to turn 17. Right. So if she was turning 17, she was in high school, obviously. And this is the end of September. So school in the US would have started by then. So the fact that the fair was on a Wednesday, I just wonder if she would have been missing from school then on Thursday and Friday

Starting point is 00:08:06 before they were reported missing. Cause this wasn't summer. This is actually officially in the fall season. I'm assuming so. And the reason I think that rocking Charlotte maybe were kind of waiting to see what was happening is possibly because Lisa was with her older sister Cheryl. And maybe they just assumed that it was it was fine if she missed a couple days of school or something like that.

Starting point is 00:08:28 Yeah, it's hard to say. We don't know. I just can't imagine she wouldn't be back to school by the very end of September. That's just like not a thing here in the US. You know, everybody starts in like August, right? So even back then I would be surprised if she was not back in school. So I'm sure a lot of you guys are thinking about that too, but we just don't know that situation. But back to the story. So a common practice that the police posed was the idea that Shara and Lisa, of course,

Starting point is 00:08:54 were runaways, and they actually suggested that they headed to Mexico together to start a new life in the wake of Cheryl's separation. Yeah, that seems really far-fetched. It's like super extreme as well. So especially because Lisa is still in high school. Like, where did you get this? So the source is unknown, but this rumor essentially just circulated around the whole area

Starting point is 00:09:18 in connection with their case. So a lot of people were talking about this really random possibility in theory. But given, again, that Lisa was still in high school, their parents just said that this was totally unrealistic and they didn't see this being the case at all. Aside from Cheryl's recent separation from her husband, neither of them were having conflict with family or friends, and their parents noted that they were not prepared for a trip or a move at all. Charlotte and Rocky just knew better, they knew that the girls were very put together,

Starting point is 00:09:50 and Charlotte remembered, quote, it didn't matter if they were going anywhere or not. It was just a part of their routine. They'd get up, shower, and do their makeup every day. So it just didn't make any sense that they would run away without any of their stuff and leave without telling anybody. So frustrated, Charlotte continued, quote, please kept telling us they were runaways. I told them that they weren't. They had no reason to run away.

Starting point is 00:10:17 And this was also completely out of character for both Cheryl and Lisa. Their uncle James North said, quote, we just don't know. There's nothing we know. They were never troublemakers. They didn't look for trouble. They just got in with the wrong person or people. So Charlotte, again the girl's mom, basically took matters into her own hands and she asked around about their whereabouts.

Starting point is 00:10:41 She tracked down Lane Henley, knowing that he had been with the girls that night, and strangely, she said that Lane's story changed every time she talked to him, which obviously is just extremely suspicious. At first, he told the pennington that Cheryl and Lisa had come to his house, which was located in the village, about 20 minutes north of downtown Oklahoma City. He claimed they had left on foot together a short while later, safe and in good spirits. Later he claimed that someone had picked them up but said that he didn't know who it was. When he changed his story for a third time, he claimed that the girl stepped out to use a payphone, which

Starting point is 00:11:22 was odd because he had a landline in his home, so it didn't really make sense why they would step out to make a call and he gave no further explanation but continued to deny any involvement. Then on October 20, 1987, after a frantic search that lasted close to a month, Sheryl and Lisa's bodies were found laying side by side in shallow graves. A car salesman taking a customer out on a four-wheel drive demonstration spotted the girls' bodies, barely concealed by dirt. Now the holes that the girls were discarded in were so shallow that their legs had begun to show, poking out of the loose

Starting point is 00:12:05 soil covering their torsos. The sisters were discovered outside of Britain, Oklahoma, about 11 miles or 17 kilometers from where they had last been seen at the fairgrounds. So Britain sits right next to the village in North Oklahoma City. And like I just said, the village is where Lane Hanley lives. Yes, very, very suspicious. Well, both of the girls had died of gunshot wounds. And according to one report, their bodies were bullet-riddled.

Starting point is 00:12:36 But sadly, because their identities had not yet been confirmed, Charlotte discovered the fate of her daughters after seeing the discovery unfold on the news. She watched as reporters discussed the police excavating the graves of two young women, and she said she knew right away that they were Cheryl and Lisa. Charlotte passed along everything she had been hearing, and each time she talked to anyone who could offer her information, it all seemed to lead back to Lane Henley and Doug Lawson. So initially, when police brought Doug in for questioning, he actually provided Lane's

Starting point is 00:13:13 alibi. When questioned that October, he stated that he and Lane had been together without the girls on the night that they were murdered. And according to Doug, Lane told him, quote, don't tell them any more than you have to. Don't bring out too much dirty laundry. Well, it's kind of interesting, though, for both of them to be each other's alibis, especially because they're the two people

Starting point is 00:13:35 that everybody is kind of suspecting. Yeah, they're in question right now. Yeah, so it's like, oh, well, we were with each other, so I'm his alibi, and he's mine, and we weren't with them. It's just kind of silly, like... Yeah, it's kind of dumb. Like, you guys are most likely the... Yeah. The people responsible here.

Starting point is 00:13:51 Yeah, so it's like, they're in cahoots to cover each other's ass and act like they have no idea what anybody's talking about. They weren't with Sharon Lisa. I actually don't know how that could really be, like, a legitimate alibi. I don't think it is. So it was with them that the case really stalled. Without being able to link Lane and Doug, nor anybody else to the murders, the path to justice just appeared non-existent because again, everybody thought that Lane and or Doug had to be involved and there was just no evidence leading to them at this point.

Starting point is 00:14:25 So Cheryl and Lisa were buried in a small family cemetery near their home, but Charlotte and Rocky refused to give up their search. For three long years, they looked for their daughter's killers, and then Doug was brought back in for another round of questioning in 1990, changing the course of the investigation forever. Proving to be a pretty temperamental source, Doug had a new story when he was questioned this time, of course. Detectives learned that he'd apparently left out everything he knew about what happened to the girls that evening. So what he told them implicated himself, but especially implicated Lane Henley. This time around

Starting point is 00:15:11 Doug claimed that he, Lane and the girls left the fair around 11.30 pm for a party at another friend's house. They then left the party as a group, heading to Lane's house to drink and smoke for a while. He said that he passed out after drinking beer, doing cocaine and smoking marijuana, with Lane and the sisters. And when he awoke an hour or so later, he said that Cheryl was yelling at Lane for allegedly assaulting her sister and just a reminder that Lisa Pendington was 16 at the time, and Lane Henley was 31. In Doug's words, quote, I heard Cheryl tell Lane,

Starting point is 00:15:49 I can't believe you did this, and then she asked for a ride home. Lane told her, I'll take you home. Doug claims that he then saw Lane hit Cheryl in the face with a 357 caliber magnum pistol when she tried to flee from his car. Lisa apparently attempted to run back into the house after this and lane hit her in the face with a shovel. He forced both of the girls into the back of his car and then drove off together. And Doug remarked, quote,

Starting point is 00:16:19 that was the last time I saw them. He then said he went to sleep without attempting to help the girls or report the situation. So if he's telling the truth, he's saying that he heard that his 31 year old friend had sexually assaulted a 16 year old girl. Yes. And then had physically assaulted her sister and her also in front of him and he didn't do anything and he just went to sleep. I honestly don't know how you can sit by and watch something like that happen and not say anything, but you know as we're going to get into it really does appear that Lane

Starting point is 00:16:59 and Doug are both pieces of shit. Yeah, well that's why this is hard because it's like, if you believe what he's saying, he's a horrible dude for not trying to help these girls. And if he's not telling the truth then what other horrible things did he do? But also Doug waited three years to say anything about any of this. Just makes you wonder why.

Starting point is 00:17:22 Like was this a concocted story or was the maybe his guilty conscience just couldn't take it anymore and he decided to confess? But anyway. So six hours later when Doug woke up or allegedly woke up and Lane was back home, Lane apparently explained that he had taken the girls to a 7-Eleven nearby and dropped them off there. Police confirmed that a search of Lane's house shortly after the girl's bodies were discovered yielded a shovel, a garden hoe, and rake, but the forensic evidence from these items was

Starting point is 00:17:55 either inconclusive or police chose not to share what they found. Doug also apparently told investigators that he later saw blood on the front door of the passenger side of Lane's car. The radio underneath the dashboard was broken, appearing as if maybe a struggle had occurred. And in another version that he recounted, Cheryl and Doug headed back out to pick up more beer after they all arrived at Lane's house. Then when Cheryl and Doug returned to Lane's house. Then when Sheryl and Doug returned to Lane's house, he was apparently bragging to Sheryl that he had raped Lisa while they were gone. So whichever version

Starting point is 00:18:31 investigators chose to believe, this was obviously an explosive revelation for the case. On August 28, 1990, Lane was arrested and charged with two counts of murder, largely based on Doug's testimony. However, this information came with a catch. Doug was facing multiple felony charges for drug possession at the time and was testifying in exchange for immunity for those charges. And this really, really muddys things up here as you guys are going to see. So though Lane was proclaiming his innocence, he served 19 months in prison while awaiting trial. And when asked about his reaction, Lane said, quote, it's a bummer. It's not right.

Starting point is 00:19:18 Both his father and stepmother testified on his behalf saying that they did not believe he was capable of assaulting or murdering the girls. and that they staunchly believe that he was not involved which means nothing like you don't think your son did it every every parent doesn't think that their child could be a killer yeah so just because you say that doesn't mean that it's true but strangely though Doug maintained in every one of his accounts that Lane had raped Lisa, she bore no evidence of sexual assault. So they just haven't been able to confirm whether that portion of the story is true or not. But also, this is kind of tricky though, because if they were able to test Lisa's body

Starting point is 00:20:02 after they pulled her out of that shallow grave and see that she was not sexually assaulted. That doesn't mean that she wasn't sexually assaulted in other ways. It might just mean that she wasn't raped. Yes, that she was not, dare I say the word, penetrated, but it's possible that something else could have occurred and that's why Cheryl was so upset. Absolutely. So in 1992, while Lane was awaiting trial for the murders of Cheryl and Lisa, Doug recanted his entire testimony.

Starting point is 00:20:33 Ugh. Though investigators were baffled and frustrated, they now had no reason to hold Lane Henley in prison when their whole case was built around Doug's story and not direct evidence that tied lane to the girls. Frustrated, one investigator recalled, quote, they were just about to the point of going to trial with it when that was stopped.

Starting point is 00:20:55 When asked what led him to recant, Doug said simply, it's destiny, and I wonder what the hell that even means. This guy is just a...he's just playing around with everything. Just an absolute ding dong. So in March of that year, almost five years after the murders, Lane was released from police custody and Doug was arrested on charges of perjury and eventually served five years for the story that he supposedly fabricated. As he should because if he really was lying, like realize what you're doing to the family

Starting point is 00:21:28 when you say what happened to the girls happened and then say that you made that up. Like it just makes you wonder though, did you or are you just trying to recant so you don't get in trouble? Are you trying to save Lane's ass? Like what is the truth? Well on top of this, state prosecutors also refiled the felony drug charges against Doug that had been lifted in his exchange for his testimony against Lane.

Starting point is 00:21:51 So it's like, take that, Doug. Like, you put your, I don't know if this is maybe Lane extorting him and saying, like, hey, I'll fucking kill you. Yeah, I wonder if you don't take your story back. But he's now going down for perjury for lying to police. But also for those drug charges that would have been dropped had he, you know, not recanted his story. So it's like, what are you doing?

Starting point is 00:22:13 And the reason why I feel like this is so weird for Doug to do or why I feel like this is like connected to Lane is because we're going gonna talk about some of the other things that Lane is suspected of doing and You will be shocked at the the coincidences So Charlotte and Rocky were devastated at the regression of progress after feeling hopeful for so long Rocky said quote it's killing us and one thing we've always said we would like to have him at least locked up before we're gone. Knowing we can go in peace is a little bit better, knowing he's still out there, laughing at everybody, walking the street, that ain't right. I'd like to see MurderCharges filed on him four times, and took off the street for the

Starting point is 00:22:58 rest of his life. And then Charlotte added quote, without some information from somebody, information of any kind, he's going to go out and do it again. Cheryl and Lisa's brother Alan also maintained that Lane was responsible and that he or someone else had convinced Doug to recant, saying quote, somebody got to him, or maybe he thinks he was going to go down with Lane. I still feel it should be up to the jury to decide if there was enough evidence or not. I still feel there is.

Starting point is 00:23:28 They have the right man now. Predictably, Lane and his team were thrilled at the ruling, obviously, that he is being let off. His lawyer said, his lawyer said, his lawyer in a statement quote, they have no case against him. This has been a terribly long ordeal for Mr. Henley. He's been in jail 19 months for two murders he did not commit. After speaking of Lane, one officer admitted quote, he was strange in the way he related to women, but there is not a clear motive why he would take two girls out, shoot them in the head, and bury

Starting point is 00:24:29 their bodies by a lake. When asked what he planned to do next, Lane said he was ready to get a real life. But death didn't stop following Lane around as he kind of touched on, so hoping for a fresh start, Lane relocated to Roswell, New Mexico. In 2000, his girlfriend, 35-year-old Molly K.E. went missing. Her body was later found in the Pei Coast River, which runs parallel to Roswell, and it can be reached about 10 minutes from downtown. Molly had been buried in a shallow dirt grave alongside the river and a died of gunshot wounds.

Starting point is 00:25:11 So remember when I said there was a coincidence, well, this is it. Yeah, she had, she was buried in a shallow grave just like Cheryl and Lisa, and she had died of multiple gunshot wounds like Cheryl and Lisa. It's just a little weird. So Lane was interviewed and investigated, obviously,

Starting point is 00:25:26 in relation to Molly's death, but no connection was ever established linking him to the murder. So he was never arrested or charged, which it's definitely possible he didn't do it, but I mean, again, what are the chances that? What are they? So sadly, there is also very little information available about Molly's life and death, and her murder remains unsolved. After Molly died, Lane Henley moved yet again, but about two hours southwest to Alamagordo, New Mexico. And a few years later, in 2008, yet another long-term partner of his passed away under suspicious circumstances. At 5 a.m., on January 22, 2008, emergency services responded to a call to the neighborhood where Lane and his girlfriend Amy Mirabal resided. The trailer in which they lived had caught fire from an undetermined source, and the north

Starting point is 00:26:24 side of the trailer was completely engulfed by the time the fire department arrived, but somehow, Lane had managed to escape, whereas Amy was still inside. So it's unclear how or why he was able to escape, and she wasn't, nor why he didn't try to help her. Again, this really just emphasizes the suspicious aspect of this story, but Lane was hospitalized with smoke inhalation and second and third degree burns. Police determined that there were no signs of foul play and her death and the fire were actually ruled as accidents. And if it wasn't an accident and he is responsible for all the deaths that we have talked about,

Starting point is 00:27:07 how is he getting so lucky? This is crazy. I don't know, but if he is responsible, he's a fucking serial killer. Yeah, seriously. Well Amy was a mother of four and it was reported that she shared at least one of her children with Lane. And according to a different report, Lane passed away just a few years ago, but he has kept a very low profile since Amy's death. And the weirdest part is, his death

Starting point is 00:27:31 is unconfirmed. So this is just what one report said that he has passed, but we don't know if that's even true, which is really kind of creepy. And very scary, yeah. So back in Oklahoma, the investigation into Cheryl and Lisa's murders was now at a standstill, but Charlotte and Rocky continued to pass out flyers and conduct their own investigation, raising a reward amounting to about $5,000. They also eventually hired a private investigator, but no one else was ever arrested in connection with their daughter's murders. Every year until their deaths,

Starting point is 00:28:06 the pennington's commemorated Cheryl and Lisa, and on the 12th anniversary of the girl's murders, the parents adorned the site of their discovery with crosses. That day, Charlotte said in an interview, quote, there's a hollow feeling that you don't think will ever leave you, that there are killers out there on the street, but nobody cares. And then Rocky added, quote,

Starting point is 00:28:28 "...These last 12 years have been a nightmare. I mean, it never leaves you. Even in your sleep, it's there. You wake up crying and screaming. You can be in a Walmart and see a blonde-haired girl that looks like Cheryl and do a double take, then realize she is gone. In that same interview, Rocky stated that he and Charlotte no longer believed that Lane and Doug were to blame for their daughter's deaths, though they did not elaborate why they think this, or name anybody who they think might be responsible. Their private detective supposedly spoke to 25 people, all of whom named two particular culprits who were

Starting point is 00:29:05 known to brag openly about the murders. But again, with nothing to connect them, they basically just walked free. The case slowed to a halt and eventually went completely cold, and sadly Rocky passed away in 2008, and then Charlotte followed in 2021. Now Alan Pennington remembers telling his mom before she passed, don't worry mom, you're gonna see dad, you're gonna see your daughters really soon. It's a good day, don't worry, just let go. So once they did pass, Alan took over the investigation for them and also brought on a new private investigator named Dorian Quillin.

Starting point is 00:29:45 Dorian highly praised the work that Charlotte put in on her daughter's case saying, quote, she was all in, she never quit looking, never quit searching, always wanting justice. I've got a list of statements that they were told over the years by people downtown. On September 23, 2022, so 35 years after the disappearance of Cheryl and Lisa, Alan and Dorian held a press conference at the Family Graves. Rainy Robinson, who's a well-known investigator, has also been assisting the family and attended the press conference to show her support. They requested new detectives to be assigned to the case and to re-evaluate the evidence

Starting point is 00:30:25 left behind with the testing that we now have at our disposal. In an interview with the local news about the press conference, Dorian announced what she could about those believed to be responsible for the murders, saying, quote, We believe there were two killers. We believe one of them has passed away. But we believe the other one is still alive. And bragging pretty continually about killing those girls. Which I just feel like... Are they talking about Doug and Lane? I feel like they have to be. If Lane is supposedly dead, I'm not saying that Doug's going around bragging,

Starting point is 00:31:02 but maybe he is. I mean, what are the chances that one of them's dead, one of them's alive, and there's two of them, and it's not Doug and Lane. I mean, there are chances, but I just wonder who they're talking about. But anyway, more on this. So Dorian's beliefs aligned with what Charlotte and Rocky's private investigator alleged back in 1999, so 12 years after the girl's death. That two men were involved, likely from the Britain area, and that they had been bragging about getting away with it. Though Dorian did not address the men by name, she believes these two men have been on the radar for decades and evaded arrest simply due to a lack of evidence.

Starting point is 00:31:43 She explained, quote, what if you find the guy who's been bragging about it? Who purgered himself about his whereabouts that night? And whose daughter tells us he's involved? The daughter that Dorian is referring to apparently confessed to a bounty hunter back in 2012 that her father was responsible for the murders. Though the man was questioned by police, they could not connect him to Cheryl and Lisa's deaths. Inside a hotel room on a recorded interview, this suspect's daughter told the bounty hunter that,

Starting point is 00:32:17 quote, one of the girls got raped and murdered, and the other one was alive for two days, getting raped and tortured. This woman claimed that her father told her that he was responsible and that he was able to cover up his crimes. But again, like Heath said, there was no evidence that this type of sexual assault was committed.

Starting point is 00:32:40 Does that mean that's 100% true? I don't know. I didn't do the autopsy, but it just makes you wonder if this daughter is telling the truth or if her dad was. Oklahoma City police sergeant and spokesperson Gary Knight claims that they pursued every angle of that possibility. And he stated, quote, that confession was a dead end street for us.

Starting point is 00:33:01 That was something that did not provide us any clues as to what happened. While he was mum on the details, police did not believe that this man or his daughter were involved. Alan and Dorian both believe that the case has been completely stagnant. Dorian guesses that in the past two decades, no one has been working on this case at all. As she poured over the reports of evidence that, you know, was taken in when the crime scene was first assessed, Dorian found copious amounts of evidence that hasn't been given a second look.

Starting point is 00:33:34 She remarked, quote, you have the earrings, jewelry that was found, fingernails, both girls, clothing from both girls, hair from both girls. However, Gary Knight argued, quote, A lot of people believe that on any case we have that's old, if we just preserve what we had, that technology of today will solve it. Sadly, that's just not the case. Sometimes it is, but not in every case. Gary claims that testing the decades-old evidence would not produce

Starting point is 00:34:02 new clues or information about what happened to the girls. But Dorian is convinced it's at least worth a try, saying quote, what if you find someone else's DNA on there? With or without the assistance of police, Dorian has vowed to find justice for the girls, stating quote, it's just offensive to me that someone can kill two people and just walk off into their lives with absolutely no consequence. But one thing that Gary Knight and Dorian Quillen do agree on is that there are still people in the area who know exactly what happened to Sheryl and Lisa, and know exactly who's to blame for their deaths.

Starting point is 00:34:47 EARLY, this wasn't the first double kidnapping that occurred as a result of the Oklahoma State Fair, because almost 6 years exactly before Cheryl and Lisa went missing, 2 other girls vanished from the fairgrounds and have never been found. So that story goes, on September 26, 1981, 13-year-old friends Charlotte Kinsey and Sinda Palette attended the fair together for the day. That evening, Charlotte's mom got a call from her still at the fair, asking if it was okay if the girls took a job helping a fair employee unload stuffed animals from a truck. The girls were thrilled to have a bit more spending money to use on games and rides and snacks, so Charlotte's mom obliged, but requested that the girls call home again at 9pm to check in.

Starting point is 00:35:31 They were then planning on heading back to Sindis House to spend the night, but the evening went on, and Charlottes' mom never got a call from them. The girls were never seen or heard from again after this, but 42 years later, they are now presumed dead. The girls left the fairgrounds with a man posing as an employee and got into his truck, driving away from the fair on Interstate 40. Four years later, investigators would charge a convicted child murderer, royal Russell Long, with the abductions and murders of Charlotte and Sinda. In 1985, Long Hall truck driver Royal

Starting point is 00:36:13 had abducted two young girls from Wyoming. One of the girls managed to escape and report what had happened, but the other girl was never found and is believed to have been murdered by Royal. He was serving two life sentences for these crimes when he was convicted of the murders of Charlotte and Sinda. But without sufficient evidence, police dismissed his case. And then Royal tried to bribe the press for information, saying that he would tell them

Starting point is 00:36:41 what they wanted to know about the abductions and murders of Charlotte and Sinda if he were paid off, but no one took him up on it. Then he died in prison in 1993. Sergeant Gary Knight, who has also been instrumental in Charlotte and Sinda's investigation, stated quote, they were never seen again. Their bodies were never found. Obviously, the assumption is that they were killed. The case has been looked at numerous times over the years by other homicide detectives and the cold case unit.

Starting point is 00:37:13 Sadly, it remains unsolved. So obviously, if Royal is behind Sinda and Charlottes, suppose murders, then he is not responsible for Cheryl and Lisa's because he was in prison at the time of their murders. Yeah, when I read that detail, I was just like, because I started reading and I was like, oh, he has to, he has to have been responsible for Cheryl and Lisa's murders because someone,

Starting point is 00:37:38 he's already done this before, like six years earlier, but then I realized it wasn't him. He was in prison. So my my take is that it's still leaning towards lane, Henley and Doug Lawson. But or if it's not lane and Doug, or if it is, or if it's somebody else, you can also wonder if the cases are connected since we don't know who's behind Charlotte and Sinda's supposed murders as well. Well, that is very true. it could have been royal for sure but since he was never actually charged

Starting point is 00:38:09 you know we can't say for sure but it's definitely weird two girls and then two girls on the same night they were both with an employee that night of the fair like it's just creepy it's weird very very creepy i mean who's to say that you know i don't know i'm not i'm not trying to say that this is the case but could it be possible that lane was responsible for those murder six years earlier how long did he work for the state fair you know what i'm saying absolutely it's definitely possible so as the author of a guest column in the

Starting point is 00:38:40 oak la homen dorian quillin called Cheryl and Lisa's murders, the most notorious cold case in Oklahoma, and said quote, "...For many years, it has only been those outside the state who have worked to resolve the case. It is long past time for Oklahoma officials to stand with this family, to demand answers in one of Oklahoma's most well-known cold cases. With significant advances in DNA, it's also time to submit the multiple items of physical evidence for testing to bring this case to resolution.

Starting point is 00:39:16 It is time to solve the state fair murders, and there is information and evidence to do it. If you have any information about the murders of Cheryl Genzer and Lisa Pennington, please call the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-522-8017. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, and on Tuesday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. I wanted to mention really quick we did get some or a bunch of comments and messages from a lot of you guys about our last episode on Eliza Fletcher that it wasn't working, but if this one's working for you and you're listening to it, I just want you to know that it's not an audio file issue.

Starting point is 00:40:10 That episode works across both Heathen Eyes devices in total, we're listening to it on every app. It's not the file, it's just a glitch with Apple podcasts. It seems this happened once, or this happens once in a while. Just try restarting your app and your phone and maybe updating your phone. If you're ever having any glitches in the episode, it's never the audio file

Starting point is 00:40:32 because we review everything before uploading. So please just try to restart your app, et cetera. Also remember that we have those two bonus episodes out for the month of August and the one that we just put out has a very terrifying audio recording literally from the victim being in the car of the alleged killer. Yes, that story is crazy. That's Amber Tucker. So with that, we will see you guys on Tuesday. So for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:41:41 you

Going West: True Crime - Oklahoma State Fair Murders // 336

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