Sirloin Stockade Slaughter: Murder on the Run

On June 22 1978 Melvin Lorenz his wife Linda and son Richard were killed near Purcell Oklahoma. Twenty-four days later on July 16 six employees of a Sirloin Stockade Restaurant in southwest Oklahoma City were herded into a freezer and shot to death. Hundreds of law enforcement members worked for eight months to track down the killers. In October and November 1979 Roger Dale Stafford was convicted of first degree murder of nine people. However he was not executed until 1995. This murder story coming from the heart of Oklahoma deserves to be told. It includes the behind-the-scenes perspective of law enforcement officers involved. Eighty-one-year-old Jean Stover has wanted to tell this story ever since she first heard her nephew speak about the murders in the late 1970s. His description of the events and the search for the killers intrigued me and I kept thinking about writing a book to let others know about the struggles to find and convict the killers. A retired teacher she lives in Oklahoma City.