(Possible Fundie?) Family Murders in Tulsa

[JesusPony]

They haven't released the victims' names in this horrifying case, but there are a couple of details that are striking me as fundie:

Five found dead inside Broken Arrow home; police take two teens into custody: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewat ... 54ba2.html

She said the family was reclusive, and the children were rarely seen outside the home.

2 Teens In Custody After 5 Found Stabbed To Death In Tulsa Suburbs: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/broke ... s-stabbing

Helen Hoagland, who has lived in the subdivision for 42 years, said two parents and five children lived in the home, and said she would sometimes see the mother walking with several children. Hoagland said the children were home schooled and that the mother kept them on a tight leash.

Hoagland said the children used to help decorate the neighborhood's entrance each Christmas, but that they stopped taking part a few years ago.

These links are news sources. Post if you find anything else!

[Four is Enough]

Yeah. Report I saw said five dead, one taken to hospital, one unharmed in house, two teens in custody. Wonder what made them snap.

[SamuraiKatz]

Yeah. Report I saw said five dead, one taken to hospital, one unharmed in house, two teens in custody. Wonder what made them snap.

A little more info in this article: http://www.newson6.com/story/29613013/p ... in-custody

Neighbors say the father worked from home in the computer field, and the mother homeschooled the children. According to those neighbors, the children were rarely seen outside and were not allowed to play with other kids.

The oldest kid must have thought things were pretty bad to flip out like this. People gotta realize that smothering your kids like this isn't sheltering.

eta: additional thought

[for_the_Kitties]

I saw that they were homeschooled and came straight to FJ. Any more updates or news on this?

[VVV]

There were seven kids, not five, and it was the two oldest brothers who are alleged to have committed the murders. Stabbing is such a brutal, hands-on way to kill someone, it makes me wonder just how harsh the discipline was in that home for the boys to be that angry--and to (allegedly) take out their younger siblings as well.

[HereticHick]

I will be shocked, shocked, shocked if these people aren't fundy. Seven kids, homeschooled, Daddy doesn't work in an evil corporate office, not allowed to play with others, stopped helping with the neighborhood Christmas decorations?

I am surprised that no neighbor has commented yet on how the females dressed. If skirts weren't mandatory, I will eat my hat.

These people are the Maxwells of the Tulsa suburbs.

[HereticHick]

By the way, Broken Arrow is SE of Tulsa. There is a ATI training center in Skiatook, NW of Tulsa--maybe 20 miles away:

ati.iblp.org/ati/students/locations/eaglesprings/

[16strong]

The only good that can come of this is if the parents were ATI-ers, and the news shines a light on the dangerous teachings of Gothard. I hope the surviving children can get through this and go on to live happier and more stable lives.

And I agree, HeretickHick. They sound EXACTLY like the Maxwells. Kind of scary.

[HereticHick]

Many more details from People Mag (although, yes I know they aren't that reliable--but they are quoting neighbors):

http://www.people.com/article/oklahoma- ... ghbor-says

"Two brothers, 18-year-old Robert Bever and his 16-year-old brother, who are related to the victims, were arrested in connection with the murders after police spotted them running out of the quarter million-dollar house's back door as they arrived on the scene...Altogether, nine people lived at the home – two parents and seven children, four boys and three girls. Both parents, David Bever, 52, and April Bever, 44. are dead, as are two of the boys, ages 12 and 7, and one of the girls, age 5... the neighbor tells PEOPLE that something hasn't seemed right with that family for a long time.

"They're very reclusive," the neighbor says. "The kids don't come out of the house."

She adds: "It's a very big house, but I've only ever seen a boy once and they've been here for many, many years. We only really knew they had kids because they have a pool and there are toys outside. But they don't come out." ..."It's weird because they're old enough to drive," she says of the detained brothers, "but I've never seen them. And I've never seen a friend come to the house at all."

She continues: "They never open the blinds. The windows are never open. "

Could this be the father?: www.linkedin.com/pub/david-bever/28/317/607

Tech guy in Tulsa area who attended Oral Roberts in early 1980s, but seemingly didn't graduate?

[Jana814]

I read an article about this today I immediately thought Fundie.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Facebook.com/aprilbever is the mom

The dads sister posted publicly about what happened here: facebook.com/tamela.bevermassey

[JesusPony]

That LinkedIn profile seems likely to be the dad. This is scary. The family that came to my mind is the Penningtons.

ETA: Wow at the sister's FB post.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Well they were definitely christians. Found the daughters FB and she mentioned Jesus being the real reason for Xmas. They seemed like a normal family, which is why it is so shocking to see this happen. WHAT was going on behind closed doors??

[fiery redhead]

Perhaps the suspects had mental health issues, and that is why the parents kept the entire family hidden.

[Cleopatra7]

What characterizes these extreme Christian homeschoolers from other types of fundies -- Mormon, Jewish, Muslim -- is the isolationism even from other like-minded people. There is no community for these children to interact with, other than their own siblings and parents. It's like they're trying to create cults where all the members happen to be related. I think it has to do with this idolatry surrounding "the family." If "the family" really is the most important thing in the world, then there's no point in trying to interact with outsiders who will take your attention away from "the family."

[salsa]

Even though uber-fundamenatlist pretty much equals "weird and reclusive," "weird and reclusive" does not necessarily equal hyper-fundy.

Still... if I were a betting woman, I'd bet for either fundy (connected to an organized religion) or some sort of family cult fundy - and my money would be on the latter.

[thoughtful]

The Mom's Facebook posts and comments on various homeschooling and homemaking blogs haven't set off any fundie vibes for me yet.

The youngest child was born very premature -- after fighting so for life, she's now without most of her family. I hope she can have as happy and normal a future as possible. :cry:

[pamplemousse]

I just tried to look at the sister's FB page and I got a "Page Not Found" message. I guess she must have taken it down.

[polecat]

That mugshot is the creepiest thing I've seen in a while. The smile is bad enough, but his eyes look utterly empty.

[salex]

The lone (so far) comment on the article about "Five Fast Facts" about the stabbing found herehttp://heavy.com/news/2015/07/rober ... gshot/says:

The mother was not running a “charity,†She had started a shill on gofundme to try to coax people into paying the costs to set up a nonprofit so they could shake down some corporations, by her own admission. These people funded no charity and did NO charitable work.

Will be interesting to see if that comes up again.

Also, in the early 80s, more than a few programmers left school to go straight to work. A few years later that trend slowed down, but the equipment and teaching staff at various colleges and universities wasn't keeping up with either the speed of technology or the demand for programmers, so the dad not graduating may only mean he had a good job offer and there was no cost benefit to graduating.

[HereticHick]

Well they were definitely christians. Found the daughters FB and she mentioned Jesus being the real reason for Xmas. They seemed like a normal family, which is why it is so shocking to see this happen. WHAT was going on behind closed doors??

Normal families don't prevent their children from playing with the neighbor children. This was not a normal family.

[church_of_dog]

If that LinkedIn was the dad, it says he attended Oral Roberts University. Is that a good hint of fundiedom or do others go there as well?

[NachosFlandersStyle]

After sorting through a few social media accounts I'm not convinced that they're part of any particular movement or sect. Look like evangelicals, but it's Oklahoma so that comes with the territory. The thing about the drawn blinds and the neighbors who never saw any of the children makes me wonder if the parents weren't keeping them isolated in order to cover up abuse.

[Mitz_]

On The moms FB page she notes that their air conditioner unit had been drained of Freon by huffers. She reasoned that their house sits next to a path used by the community to access a community recreational area but it made me wonder if the two boys were substance abusers. It was ultra weird the way that 18 year old was smirking in the mugshot.

I was too late to see the sister's comments before she took her page down, what did she have to say?

[thoughtful]

I was too late to see the sister's comments before she took her page down, what did she have to say?

It's not taken down -- I can still see it.