New Law: Cowboys, Indians and The Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office

Last week the Chanda Turner Reform Act went into effect in Oklahoma. The new law is groundbreaking. It provides families whose loved ones deaths were ruled "suicides" the ability to appeal the medical examiners ruling in hopes of having the cause of death changed.

The new law is appropriately named after Chanda Turner 23, shot to death at her home on July 12, 2000. She was ending the relationship and moving on with her life minus him. Her boyfriend who has significant ties to the town from everything to erected street signs, park plaques to a relative as one the original founding town member of Pauls Valley, claimed Chanda shot herself.

Crime scene photo's would tell a different story, the truth. This includes the photo's taken of defense wounds on the shooter. But, the heavy handed political powers in town, the very people that magically appear on the original crime scene log the evening of the 12th or do not appear depending on which log you view, cover-up the truth. Just so a powerful family in my opinion can keep their son out of prison.

Sadly, no one thinks about the prison for Chanda Turner's family. They endured a nightmare for nearly a dozen years. From the day their daughter was murdered they have fought against the powers of political corruption and cowardice by their own community. Last year while in Oklahoma, I witnessed firsthand many turn their backs during my trip for the families seeking justice and those on the Justice For The Dead site created by attorney Jaye Mendros. By mid-week the tide had turned people were finally listening.

Now, with the new in place, the train to justice has pulled out of the station and is headed on track to the halls of justice.

The journey for justice is not only about a new law, but a group of people, strangers really who came together for a cause greater than themselves. The power of one family, the Turner's reaching out to others whose loved ones also lost their lives by someone else's hand. The medical examiners office(s) in the state of Oklahoma recklessly stamping death certificates as suicides when in actuality are homicides.

Make no mistake if you are a family of a suspicious death or you know in your heart that a loved one did not die by their own hand, do not give up. Fight for justice in their untimely silence. If you do not believe you can make changes to correct a corrupt or blind system, get a hold of me and I will connect you to Joe and Donna Turner!

http://www.okcfox.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/kokh_vid_4220.shtml

Susan Murphy Milano is a staff member of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education. She is a specialist with intimate partner violence prevention strategies and high risk cases and available for personal consultations through the Institute. She is also part of the team at Management Resources Limited of New York.

Susan is a contributor to Forbes : Crime, She Writes a powerhouse lineup of female true crime professionals, experts and authors providing commentary about the hottest topics on crime, justice, and law from a woman’s perspective.

Susan is the author of "Time's Up: A Guide on How to Leave and Survive Abusive and Stalking Relationships,"Moving out, Moving on, and Defending Out Lives. Susan is the host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show, "Time's Up!" . She is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated "The Roth Show" with Dr Laurie Roth and a co-host on Crime Wire.

Justice Exists For All: "Minus the State Of Oklahoma"

By Susan Murphy Milano

"The purpose of the Eleventh Commandment is to maintain the promise that justice exists for all; that no one should be able to subvert, avoid, or deceive the due process of law. Whether it involves affecting change in elected office, statuatory process or public opinion, the Eleventh Commandment will be there. There are those who may attempt it, but thou shalt not get away with it"

In the state of Oklahoma, specifically Garvin County, justice has literally been removed, erased whatever you would like to call it for the families of Chanda Turner and Shiela Deviney. Both of these women lost their lives as a direct result of intimate partner homicide. The elected officials, law enforcement and political powers in the State of Oklahoma have not only decided never to investigate, bring forth charges and arrest the husband and boyfriend in these cases. But they gave each of the suspects the blessing allowing them to tamper with crime scene evidence after each murder, right under the nose and likely with the old west mentality of law enforcement.

The Sheriff' in my opinion has used everything in its' corrupt and crooked magic bag to harass and personally threaten each of the families. It is likely the Garvin County Sheriff's office is still operating under 1850's old west procedures when it relates to the murdering of a wife and a girlfriend. The current Sheriff might want to change the language on its' current website it reads "the office of the sheriff is one of antiquity. It is the oldest law enforcement known within the common-law system and it has always been accorded great dignity and trust."

CHANDA TURNER, just 23 years old, was shot to death at her home in Paul's Valley on July 12, 2000. Her boyfriend claimed she shot herself while he slept through the sound of gunfire, then found her outside on the backsteps after she was dead. Crime scene photos depict blood throughout the inside of the home, including on the mattress he claimed he was asleep on. The mattress had been stripped of sheets; no one asked where they went. There were more signs of clean-up in the bedroom, including a bottle of cleaning solution on the floor. The boyfriend had fresh scratches on his arms, and Chanda was covered in bruises. There were signs of a struggle in the livingroom, including broken furniture.

Sheila Deviney, 30, died on Jan. 6, 2004 when her trailer house, located about one mile east and one mile south of Maysville, Oklahoma, burned to the ground. She was murdered. It should be no surprise that Sheila was married to an abusive controlling man. They had a court date over past due child scheduled the next day. According to eye witnesses, her ex-husband was at the trailer, although divorced, and by law not allowed on the premises, he and another friend destroyed evidence and took items from the home.

Where are my manners? I forgot to discuss the "participation" more like spitting in a spitoon of the District Attorney's office, both past and current administrations's have been non-existent. The office refuses to open the cases. They will not take calls from the families who have important documents and information. They refuse to give a damn!

Perhaps it has something to do with the person whom now heads up the investigations for the District Attorney's office? Oh wait I remember now, he was an investigator on both the Chanda Turner and the Sheila Deviney case's.

Because of the blatant disregard for justice not only in these 2 murders but through out the state a newly formed alliance of concerned and committed citizens was created and appropriately titled the "Eleventh Commandment" to counter a growing plague of police corruption, political apathy and administrative malfeasance all of which played a part in the untimely murders of a number of local citizens which have yet to be solved.

Their Mission: is to maintain the promise that justice exists for all; that no one should be able to subvert, avoid, or deceive the due process of law. The members and supporters of this organization work tirelessly to uphold the lawful efforts of legitimate law enforcement officers, district attorneys, judges and the zealous advocates in the public defenders office as well as congressional legislators and the common man. They also work just as fiercely to expose those who would corrupt our way of life with vice, graft, corruption, deceipt, brutality and murder.

We can all take a page or two from the families in these cases. When the bolder was dropped at the door to enter the legal system on their journey for justice, they refused give up.

In addition,the newly formed team of “Intimate Partner Homicide Investigation” with Sheryl McCollum, Director of the Cold Case Institute, Holly Hughes, former Atlanta Prosecutor turned defense attorney and Susan Murphy Milano have joined the battle cry seeking justice in both of these women’s cases. We aired and presented each case over the past 2 weeks on blogtalk radio. Our broadcasts alone was in our opinion more than enough to have both the Turner and Deviney case re-opened.

According to Sheryl McCollum “although we will never know what forensic evidence was present because the crime scene was not secured properly in either of the cases, other evidence provided is more than enough to investigate and demand each case be re-opened.”

McCollum goes on to say and in Chanda Turner’s case “ We know from photographs that there was blood spatter evidence that was not considered, we know from forensic reports that there was primer residue evidence that was ignored.

Defense Attorney Holly Hughes and a former prosecutor out of Atlanta believes that the Gavin County Prosecutor in refusing to open both the Turner and Deviney cases is" covering up for those who did not properly do their jobs. It is clear from the photo's of the fire in the Deviney case that the "good old boys" will not prevail."

"Heads are about to roll as we along with our interactive sponsor Websleuths.com bust these 2 cases wide open. Perhaps the Prosecutor has a memory lapse, practing his own version of "blue light special" justice forgetting that he was elected by the people, taking an oath, placing his hand on the bible, swearing to do a job and ensure justice."

And one final note to the Law Enforcement and Prosecutors of Garvin County, as a veteran with over 20 years experience in Intimate Partner Homicide, I will not allow you nor anyone else to continue "pissing" as you have on the graves of Sheila Deviney and Chanda Turner. I am not fearful of your threats to locate and silence me. It did not work in 1989, when my father a violent crimes detective murdered my mother.

This blog gentlemen says it all for each of you "Time's Up."