(Possible Fundie?) Family Murders in Tulsa

[DGayle]

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.

I did too at first, and the realized that I copied part of the next word.

[Mitz_]

Ah, the page is still up...thanks! I just don't know how the family members get through something like this. She was preparing to tell her mother what had happened yesterday. There seems to be a possibility that there were possibly step children, doesn't there?

[apandaaries]

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?

That's a good question. I can't see her note about the air conditioner, but something probably helped those two boys disengage from their actions. As mentioned above, stabbing is a very personal, close way to attack someone. To go after the whole family like that? Something dreadful must have been building up. Wonder if they were involved in ATI.

I wonder if FB settings are making it more complicated for some people to see things. I can see pics and such on the mom's page, but no comments. If other people have any connections to friends of friends of these people, they probably have better access than others (depending on the settings enabled). I'm curious about the mom's sister's comments as well, but I can't seem to access the mom's friends, even -- I just see a few people she was following.

Such a sad, tragic end -- and the 2 and 13 year olds have to live with this, too.

[salex]

April seems to have commented a lot of places around the internet, using her facebook log in. Searching April Sharpe Bever gets a lot of comment hits. Can't find a blog from her or her husband.

she says on one comment

April Sharpe Bever #

We added this to our article 10 Quick Easy Steps For Healthy Skin oldtimebook.com/10-quick-easy-steps-healt

Oldtimebook is a very odd website, talking about health tips, Hebrew Classes, selling Dead Sea Minerals-- and this magnetic image that will make your door's peep hole look like a scope on a rifle... oldtimebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/14222636576541-300x300.jpg , free Israeli flag lapel pins and a post on "Must Christians Support Israel" by Bishop O K Neal.

oldtimebook.com/category/blog/why-you-should-support-israel/

He's on linked in and can't tell how much influence he had on them, as he lives in TX, so they may just have liked his writing. linkedin.com/pub/bishop-dr-o-k-ken-neal/27/21b/565

Amazon has a very small self published cookbook by an April Bever, but I can't absolutely confirm it is the same April . It linked to a site that is no longer active, at least for me (foundrecipes.com) http://www.amazon.com/kindle/dp/B00DOKE ... eos_detail,

In 2011, a a person on Facebook recommended April's Family Stitchery Studio

Original Designs & Vintage Finds

June 17, 2011 ·

April Sharpe Bever has an vast assortment of sewing patterns, vintage, & home accessories...

FamilyStitchery Artisan Studio ArtFire Buy & Sell Handmade

FamilyStitchery Artisan Studio Handmade Artisan Items

ARTFIRE.COM|BY FAMILYSTITCHERY ON ARTFIRE.COM

artfire.com/ext/shop/home/FamilyStitchery They sold 392 items, but it says the shop is currently on vacation and the last comments were from 2011. She seems to have started and stalled out on several endeavors.

[SamuraiKatz]

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

Agreed. Doesn't appear they allowed him to clean up..which adds to the eerie creepy factor.

[thoughtful]

I believe this is the Mom's twitter:

https://twitter.com/aokiemom7

She seems to have done a lot of looking for freebies, commenting when bloggers had a giveaway of some sort. A lot of them seemed to be answering the "how would you use this product?" question - is that how some of these giveaways work? I really don't read blogs or enter giveaways.

So I'm not sure that which blogs or sites she went to is necessarily relevant for knowing their religious or political bent. Last night, I found one for a Shakespeare study help, on which she said she'd use it to teach Romeo and Juliet, another on which the blogger described herself as a devout Muslim.

The girls wore pants, they visited a Santa for photos in 2014, they visited a great-grandmother, there are pictures in parks. The kids may have been truly isolated, indoctrinated, and abused, but we don't know that yet.

Clearly there was dysfunction, in the oldest boys and/or the whole family, or this would not have happened. But I don't think we know nearly enough yet to label them Christian fundies.

[Grimalkin]

Agreed. Doesn't appear they allowed him to clean up..which adds to the eerie creepy factor.

I kept thinking he looked familiar, then in the comments people were calling him Harry Potter. He DOES look like Harry, if he remained in the cupboard under his Aunt and Uncles stairs.

[polecat]

This is said (elsewhere) to've been their church: rhemabiblechurch.com/

[DomWackTroll]

This is said (elsewhere) to've been their church: rhemabiblechurch.com/

Hmm... They call themselves "multicultural" and say they welcome "everyone." And if you look at their "Praying for Our Nation" PDF (scroll down, left side) it's strangely bipartisan and focuses on peace and economics. No mention of abortion or teh gayz.

[FundieFarmer]

I also wondered if they were fundie. It says a lot to me that the brothers were angry enough to kill their siblings.

Mom seems to have a lot of the typical Fundie traits, but it's very interesting their church has female ministers. That sways me away from the "typical" fundie stereotype and toward an off-shoot type?

[HereticHick]

This is said (elsewhere) to've been their church: rhemabiblechurch.com/

It is interesting that people are claiming that they went to this church, yet neighbors state that the kids rarely left the house.

There was something terribly wrong behind those drawn curtains, and all the kids in the family were suffering in isolation for it.

I also wonder if they were some sort of doomsday preppers.

[Stynjen]

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?

Oral Roberts University is run amok with fundies. They have a strict dress code and rules about fraternization. I used to waitress at a restaurant about 1/2 mile from the campus and frequently was left religious tracts as my "tip".

Did you see the funny recommendation on his LinkedIn profile? Lisa Wolfe described him as "very contentious", when she likely meant to write conscientious. :lol:

[Stynjen]

This is said (elsewhere) to've been their church: www.rhemabiblechurch.com/

Rhema is a scary ministry. A quick Google search turned up lots of horror stories about the organization. An old roommate of mine in Tulsa had moved there with her family from Georgia. They were fundy, her mom never worked. Anyway, her dad left the air force about a year before he would have qualified for a pension because "God told him to move to Tulsa and attend Rhema Bible College". My friend, moved out as soon as she could, and used to regale me with stories of her family's prayer closet.

[FundieFarmer]

Rhema is a scary ministry. A quick Google search turned up lots of horror stories about the organization. An old roommate of mine in Tulsa had moved there with her family from Georgia. They were fundy, her mom never worked. Anyway, her dad left the air force about a year before he would have qualified for a pension because "God told him to move to Tulsa and attend Rhema Bible College". My friend, moved out as soon as she could, and used to regale me with stories of her family's prayer closet.

Wow, so this isn't just a one-and-done type of church? I thought it was just a little ol' nothin' church in the middle of nowhere. Guess not.

[church_of_dog]

Oral Roberts University is run amok with fundies. They have a strict dress code and rules about fraternization. I used to waitress at a restaurant about 1/2 mile from the campus and frequently was left religious tracts as my "tip".

Did you see the funny recommendation on his LinkedIn profile? Lisa Wolfe described him as "very contentious", when she likely meant to write conscientious. :lol:

Ah, thanks.

I don't have a LinkedIn account so all I could see was the cover page and I presume only parts of it at that.

My impression of this family is that while they might not be the most extreme fundies out there, their religious constrains will turn out to be at least a significant part of the dysfunction that pushed the boys over the edge.

[clueliss]

Re Rhema - first off the senior pastor and wife photo gives off one of those vibes.

Found under 'What we believe" was this: • The Baptism in the Holy Ghost is a gift and is accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues.

Nothing wrong with that if that's your thing but it gives me an idea of what sector of the Christian community we're in.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

Longtime lurker, but wanted to post a blog written by someone who had attended and studied under this pastor at this Rhema church thewordonthewordoffaithinfoblog.com/2009/05/11/my-rhema-days/

Whomever is running their SEO is doing a great job as the first several pages for me using typical search terms were mostly official and positive sites. I saw another site with posts about how focused they are on exorcism and one guy's sister was trying to exorcise him through email because he left the church. On their official site their "pray for our country" link has 7 kinds of batshit about protecting our country and cleansing the air over the US of demons. It doesn't sound like hyperbole - sounds like they are referring to actual demons running the economy? My read on it, anyway.

some interesting excerpts from the link:

I had several ministers warn me that the teaching at RHEMA were out of balanced and dangerous but I believed in Kenneth Hagin and his visions.

Kenneth Hagin was a preacher and prophet that claimed to have been visited by Jesus Christ on at least eight occasions. At other times he was visited by Angles, went to Hell three times and up to the Throne Room of Almighty God.

The place felt wrong on the inside. It was all about faith, submitting to authority, and money.

They had more rules than a prison camp. They had ushers with walkie talkies every where, armed security, and they would not let you use the bath room during offering time. I was constantly being rebuked and fussed at. We had to have special stickers on our cars so that we could be spotted if we were at places that we shouldn’t be in. We had all kinds of dress codes and rules to abide by.

Also, this pastor apparently preached publicly against white Christians dating people of other races. Not breaking link because it's a news site.

http://articles.latimes.com/1998/mar/28/local/me-33511

edited for clarity and to add last link

[salex]

This is said (elsewhere) to've been their church: rhemabiblechurch.com/

OK then. The minister of that church is Kenneth Hagin, son of the old Kenneth Hagin who was a big Word Of Faith minister (also taugh laughing in the spirit and other crap fundie stuff.

This is exactly the kind of stuff this old methodist stays away from.

[bBvideo 560,340:2aqzvxt7]

[/bBvideo]

You'll see another radio/tv preacher in this -- kenneth copeland, who may have had a falling out with the son (current preacher)

I'd say they are a bit fundie.

[HereticHick]

This church makes me wonder if a member (or members) of the family had serious mental problems and the Bevers dealt with it by putting the whole family on lockdown and attending a church that focuses on exorcisms.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

This church makes me wonder if a member (or members) of the family had serious mental problems and the Bevers dealt with it by putting the whole family on lockdown and attending a church that focuses on exorcisms.

That was my first thought when I read about the exorcisms, based on nothing but my spidey sense and the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It didn't even have to be serious mental problems to begin with. Some have put their kids through this for any number of things: could be anything from being neuro atypical, learning disabilities, minor behavioral issues, or even exhibiting strong will or critical thinking.

I'd think one of the fast tracks to serious mental problems would be exorcisms.

[Idolatry]

That mugshot gave me the creeps. :?

[DomWackTroll]

Looks like Hagin's trying to sweep some past issues under the rug with the seemingly "kinder, gentler" political statement on his church's website.

[VelociRapture]

I don't care whether these boys were raised Fundie or liberal or were abused horribly or anything in between - you don't fucking kill three of your younger siblings! There is NO excuse for what they did to their brothers and sisters!

:angry-banghead: :pull-hair: :wtf:

(Side note: This was a reaction to the general story, not anything anyone posted here.)

I feel a bit better now. I am interested in knowing more about this family and their beliefs. It just seems rather creepy to me. I mean, there are times when teens have killed their parents without any good reason, but I don't know. . .

[clueliss]

That mugshot gave me the creeps. :?

I finally found it in an article. Dead eyes. I tried to find life in there but nope. Which would explain the creepy smirk.

[church_of_dog]

Here's a news article that I don't think has been posted yet, with more details.

http://www.tulsafrontier.com/despite-resclusive-nature-teenage-suspect-in-broken-arrow-mass-slayings-had-fascination-with-internet-memes-rap-music/