The Wrights and Biggs did not hear from Appellant again until close to Thanksgiving when they learned he was arriving at the Tulsa bus station. At Mrs. Wright’s request, Mark Biggs picked up Appellant at the bus station and drove him back to Depew. Appellant told Biggs his wife and two young children had died in a car crash, that he did not have any place to live, and did not need to be back in Detroit anytime soon. Appellant shared Thanksgiving dinner with the Wrights and Biggs and stayed at the Biggs’ home.

During this time, Appellant and Kathy Biggs developed a romantic relationship. On December 13, Appellant told Mark Biggs he and Kathy were in love. Appellant said he was getting a court settlement from a trucking company for over one million dollars and he wanted Mark Biggs to move out. Biggs moved out that day.

Mark and Kathy subsequently divorced. Appellant and Kathy lived together until the summer of 2003 when their relationship soured. At that time, Appellant and Kathy shared an apartment in Tulsa. In July, Kathy worked as a registered nurse in Lawton, working six days on and six days off. When she was not working, she returned to the Tulsa apartment. However, by August 2003, she told Appellant to leave the apartment, had the utilities turned off, obtained a protective order against Appellant, and moved back to her parents’ home in Depew. In September, she realized she had forgotten to contact the cable company. When she finally did, she learned that someone had been in the apartment watching the cable channels the past 24 to 36 hours. Sure that Appellant had broken into the apartment, Kathy immediately phoned the Tulsa Police Department. Appellant was inside the apartment when the police arrived. He was arrested for burglarizing the apartment and incarcerated in the county jail. While awaiting disposition of the charges, he told a cellmate that his girlfriend was a “pharmaceutical rep”, she was dealing drugs and that he was going to “get even” with her. Appellant was released from custody in October 2003.

On October 18, 2003, Appellant broke into the home of A.J. and Patsy Cantrell. The elderly couple lived across the street from the Wrights. Once inside, Appellant found a .410 shotgun that he loaded with shells from the residence. Patsy Cantrell was soon dead from a gunshot to the back and A.J. Cantrell was dead from multiple blunt force traumas to the head. Their bodies were later found on the bathroom floor, with Patsy’s body lying on top of her husband. Their Chihuahua dog was found cowering in the bathroom near the bodies.

After killing the Cantrells, Appellant walked across the street to the Wright residence. He jerked open the front door and found 16 year old Tyler Montgomery, Kathy Biggs’ son, seated in a recliner watching television. Montgomery saw Appellant come through the door carrying a shotgun with an “angry look on his face.” Montgomery knew Appellant was not welcomed in the Wrights’ home. He immediately jumped up and ran towards the kitchen where his grandmother, Carla Wright, was baking cakes for her Sunday school class. Before Montgomery could get to the kitchen though he was struck in the lower back with shot from the shotgun. The force of the shotgun blast pushed Montgomery to the ground. Appellant stepped over Montgomery’s body and entered the kitchen. There he proceeded to beat Carla Wright with the end of the shotgun, inflicting at least four severe blows to her head.

While Appellant was beating his grandmother, Montgomery was able to get up, although with great difficulty, and run to the back of the house looking for a weapon. Unbeknownst to Montgomery, the guns had been moved to another part of the house. Unable to find a weapon, Montgomery ran out the back door and jumped into his pickup. The armed Appellant saw this and followed him outside. Upon seeing Appellant, Montgomery locked the doors to the pickup and backed out of the driveway. Appellant jumped into the bed of the pickup and reloaded the shotgun. Montgomery drove erratically trying to throw Appellant out of the pickup. Appellant not only remained in the pickup, but fired at Montgomery through the back windshield of the pickup. The shot hit Montgomery in the shoulder.

After being shot, Montgomery drove the truck through several ditches before purposely crashing the truck into large metal pole at the entrance to the Depew Sports Complex. He knew he could get help there as his grandfather was announcing the local football game. After the crash, Montgomery jumped out of the truck and ran for help. As a crowd gathered around the bloodied Montgomery, Appellant jumped out of the back of pickup and began walking in the opposite direction. He was still carrying the shotgun.

John Inman was driving down the street when he saw the bloodied Appellant. He had never met Appellant before, but heard the crash of the pickup and went to investigate. Inman told his girlfriend to get out of the car that he was going to offer Appellant a ride. Appellant accepted Inman’s offer. Inman noticed when Appellant got into the car that the hammer on the shotgun was cocked. Appellant told Inman he was going to the Wrights’ residence. Inman told Appellant he should go to the hospital due to the large gash on his forehead, which was bleeding profusely. Appellant agreed, but said he needed to get some personal items from home first.

At Appellant’s direction, Inman drove Appellant approximately seven miles east to Airport Road near Bristow. Finding himself on a country road, with the next road nearly three miles away, Inman became suspicious of Appellant and his intentions. Inman told Appellant to unload the shotgun. When Appellant refused, Inman repeated his demand. Appellant looked at the shotgun, opened the passenger door and began to slide out. As he did, he raised the barrel of the shotgun. Believing he was about to be shot, Inman grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and pushed it away from his head. Appellant fired and the shot barely missed Inman’s hand and head. Inman threw his car into drive and sped off. In the rear view mirror, he saw Appellant running after him, reloading the gun. Inman drove straight to the police department.

In the meantime, Carla Wright had managed to recover just enough from her beating to look for help. Barely able to see due to the blood dripping down her face, she walked across the street to the Cantrells’ home. Despite talking to Pasty Cantrell earlier that day, Mrs. Wright received no response to her repeated knocks at the front door. So she opened the door and went inside. She walked through several rooms calling for the Cantrells. She walked past the bathroom and saw what turned out to be Pasty Cantrells’ legs. However, at the time, through her blurred and bloodied vision, Mrs. Wright thought she saw a scarecrow, because her grandchildren had been stuffing scarecrows earlier in the day. Believing she had not found the Cantrells at home, Mrs. Wright left the house and found help from a passerby.

For the next eleven days, Appellant evaded capture despite a massive police search, largely by hiding in the rural wooded areas between Depew and Bristow. During this time, the home of Rodney Lewis, located near Airport Road, was burglarized. Clothes, including a pair of jeans and a shirt, food and a .380 handgun were taken. The handgun was not operational, as Mr. Lewis had lost the firing pin. Left behind was a bloody shirt and a pair of bloody jeans.

On November 23, 2003, seventy-five year old Doyce Pitre, a volunteer at the Depew Methodist Church food pantry, accidentally discovered Appellant hiding inside the building. Upon seeing the gun-wielding Appellant, Ms. Pitre ran screaming from the building. She left her keys hanging in the front door to the building. Appellant grabbed the keys and used them to steal Ms. Pitre’s car.

That same day, Dr. Sam Peebles and his wife Suzanne, left Ft. Smith Arkansas, for their home in Nashville, Arkansas. Nearing the town of Waldron, Arkansas, they noticed a red Toyota on the side of the road. A man, Appellant, was standing beside the car shivering. The Peebles stopped and asked Appellant if he needed help. Appellant said he thought there was something wrong with his car because he had just filled up with gas. Appellant accepted the Peebles’ offer to take him to a nearby convenience store to get help. Appellant told the Peebles his girlfriend had been in a wedding and he was on his way to Texarkana to pick her up. Appellant took a seat in the Peebles’ van, directly behind Dr. Peebles, who was driving. After only a few minutes, Appellant pulled out a gun, pointed it at Dr. Peebles, and said they were going to drive for a while. For approximately the next six hours, the Peebles drove, through Arkansas and Texas, following Appellant’s directions. He asked them a couple of times if they had been to Mexico and if they knew how to get there. On several occasions, Appellant told the Peebles that he was taking the safety off the gun and if they did what he said, they would have something to tell their grandkids, but if they didn’t, “I’m already facing death row in Oklahoma.”

The gun in Appellant’s possession was the .380 semi-automatic pistol he had taken in the burglary of the Lewis home. Unbeknownst to him, it didn’t work. When Appellant first drew the gun on the Peebles, Mrs. Peebles tried to grab it away from Appellant. During the ensuing struggle, Appellant yelled that he was going to kill Dr. Peebles if she did not let go. He said, “that old man did the same thing and I killed his wife.” Believing the gun had been used to previously kill someone, Mrs. Peebles let go.