The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has taken over the probe of the apparent murder-suicide of six people by sex offender Jesse McFadden in Okmulgee County.
While OSBI spokesperson Gerald Davidson didn't say why his agency was taking over the investigation, the change in hands follows a week of details about McFadden's criminal charges, release from jail and alleged electronic and sex devices found in his home coming to light.
McFadden reportedly shot and killed six people — including two teenage girls — before killing himself, Okmulgee police told media Wednesday. A convicted rapist, McFadden had been charged for allegedly soliciting nude images of a teenager while in prison and was released on bond in Muskogee County.
Court records show McFadden was released from the Muskogee County jail after posting $2,500 for bond in November 2020.
Fourteen-year-old Ivy Webster and 16-year-old Brittany Brewer were first reported missing over last weekend. An Amber Alert was issued for them the following Monday morning, and they were found dead later that day.
Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice told reporters OPD's violent crime task force responded to the property on Holly Road in the county in connection with the investigation. They secured a warrant for the property and found the bodies after observing "a freshly disturbed area of dirt" on the property.
Prentice said he didn't know if McFadden had shown warning signs, other than his past prison sentence and pending child sexual abuse charges.
Screenshots of messages shared with media outlets show McFadden telling a now-23-year-old woman he allegedly groomed from prison his life was crumbling because of the charges.
"This is all on you for continuing this," the screenshot reads.
Another message allegedly says he "wouldn't go back" to prison.
Prentice told reporters on Wednesday that he was unsure what McFadden's thought process was before the apparent slayings.
"I follow the evidence, and the evidence is that Jesse McFadden murdered six people and then killed himself," he said. "Beyond that, I don't know what his thought process was. Whether this was planned and how long he planned it, I don't have any evidence."
A video taken by Webster's grandmother Shannon Boykin allegedly shows multiple cellphones and computers inside the home, as well as handcuffs, lubricant, a used syringe and a bottle of pills.
Cameron Spradling, the attorney representing Webster's family, said in a prepared statement that Webster's family was shocked to find that law enforcement hadn't secured the computers.
"No words can express this family's fear that the sexual assault of their baby girl has been placed on the dark web," Spradling's statement reads. "We demand that law enforcement seize all electronic devices within this house of horrors and hunt down all sexual predators who have witnessed the suffering of little Ivy Webster."
Davidson did not say if law enforcement knew about the computers at McFadden's home.
Rep. Scott Fetgatter, who represents the area, said in a statement that he is questioning authorities about why McFadden wasn't held in jail without bond leading up to his trial.
