Shocking murder of two black men not a hate crime
Police investigation concludes that it was simply a gun sale gone bad
The murder of two black men who had their bodies dismembered by three white men in Oklahoma was ruled not to be a hate crime
The sinister murder of two Black men who had their bodies dismembered by three White men in a case that’s being called a modern-day lynching– was ruled not to be a hate crime but instead a gun sale gone bad, reports Fox News.
“We definitely explored that, and the evidence absolutely shows that this was not racially motivated,” said Cleveland County prosecutor Greg Mashburn.
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Alize Ramon Smith, also known as “Gutta Twin,” and Jarron Moreland, nicknamed “400,” both 21, went missing in April outside Oklahoma City and were found dead in a pond with their dismembered bodies chained to cinder blocks so they could sink.
The Facts Are Black and White
Initially there were three suspects– all are white. Police arrested 22-year-old Kevin Garcia-Boettler, 43-year-old Johnny Shane Barker and the 16-year-old brother of Garcia-Boettler, Brett Boettler who is being charged with the shooting.
Police say that Garcia-Boettler and his brother were going to meet up with Moreland on April 14 to purchase a gun they saw for sale on Craigslist.
The 16-year-old allegedly committed the killings when the sellers entered the back of their van.
“When [Moreland and Smith] entered the vehicle, the white men said they heard a gun being racked,” said Sgt. Jeremy Lewis of the Moore Police Department. “So one of them fired four rounds.”
The brothers then met with Barker to get rid of the bodies at a house nearby. They all put cinder blocks on the bodies to make them heavy enough to sink to the bottom of a pond where they were dumped. Their clothes were removed and burned.
The case sent shockwaves through the Oklahoma community and caught national attention. Activist Shaun King called the gruesome killings a modern-day lynching. But prosecutors do not believe a hate-crime has been committed.
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A Family Affair
WJLA reports: “the teen is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, unlawful removal of a dead body, desecration of human corpse and possessing a firearm after delinquent adjudication. Garcia-Boettler is charged with accessory after the fact and unlawful removal of a dead body. Barker, is charged with accessory after the fact, unlawful removal of a body and desecration of a human corpse.”
According to WJLA.com, their mother, Crystal Rachelle Boettler, 40, is being charged with accessory after the fact.
Investigators also found “cleaning products and a power washer around the vehicle,” “dried blood spatter on the ceiling of the van” and “a bucket of water with a chainsaw bar inside and soaking in the water along with several jigsaw blades,” the arrest affidavit stated.
Kenetha Moreland, the victim’s mother, believes that the killed was premeditated.
“To me, it’s like y’all planned to torture them,” she said.
