Oklahoma nonprofit investigating unsolved 'OKC Butcher' murders
Oklahoma nonprofit investigating unsolved 'OKC Butcher' murders Oklahoma Cold Cases is working to uncover answers in the unsolved murders of three women, gruesomely killed and dismembered in Oklahoma City between 1976 and 1986. Oklahoma Cold Cases is working to uncover answers in the unsolved murders of three women, gruesomely killed and dismembered in Oklahoma City between 1976 and 1986. Oklahoma Cold Cases, a nonprofit group, is revisiting the chilling cold case of the "OKC Butcher," involving the gruesome murders and dismemberment of three women in Oklahoma City between 1976 and 1986. “No one has ever been able to do the OKC Butcher to more than a podcast episode or a small article, because there’s just not a lot,” said Amanda Newland-Davis of Oklahoma Cold Cases. The first victim, Cathy Shackleford, was an 18-year-old whose remains were discovered in a vacant house on Northeast 6th Street in 1976. “Cathy Shakleford went unidentified until the 90s,” Newland-Davis said. In 1979, the remains of 22-year-old Arley Killian were found in a neighborhood along Northeast 10th Street. “The interesting thing with Arley is that the killer kinda seemed to want to play with the police a little bit,” Newland-Davis said. After police initially discovered some of Killian’s remains, additional remains were left in the same spot days later. “After discovering some of her remains, like two or three days later in the same spot where the remains had been recovered, more remains had been left,” Newland-Davis said. Henry Lee Lucas, known as the "Confession Killer," admitted to Killian’s murder, but his confession was later disproven. Newland-Davis said Lucas was not near Killian at the time of her death. The third victim, Marcia “Tina” Sanders, was 23 years old when her remains were found in 1986. Former KOCO 5 News reporter Holly Echols described the case in a 1987 report: “Perhaps the hardest case for police to solve is the dismemberment of 23-year-old Tina Marie Sanders. Her left leg and upper torso were found March 6th, 1986.” Sanders’ remains were discovered in two locations: an alley near Northeast First and Geary, and her skull behind a garage on North Lindsay Avenue near Northeast Fourth. “All of those body parts were identified as belonging to a single body; however, that’s the only thing we’ve been able to find,” an Oklahoma City Police Department detective said in 1987. Newland-Davis said Sanders had multiple aliases, which may have complicated the investigation over the years. “Marcia Tina Sanders may not have actually been Tina Sanders. I get her records back, and there are 12 different aliases,” Newland-Davis said. In 1986, police linked all three murders together, noting that the sites where the remains were found were within the same approximate square mile area. That area has since changed significantly, largely due to the construction of Interstate 235. “The community where this happened is predominantly no longer there because that’s where ... highways and interstates and such,” Newland-Davis said. Oklahoma Cold Cases plans to begin their investigation next month, meeting with people and digging through records to uncover new leads. “We’re not simply going to stop because we can’t find anybody; we’re going to keep going,” Newland-Davis said.