13 years ago things had gone darkly sideways in the Oklahoma City metro area. Within a single month Three teenaged girls were murdered. It began when the dismembered remains of Carina Saunders were found by animal control officers searching a field for feral cats. Then on October 27th authorities found Kelsey Bransby shot in the face in her far southwest side apartment. She died a short while later at a hospital. Finally, the nude body of Alina Fitzpatrick was discovered in weed filled lot near NE 43rd and Anderson Rd on the east side of town.
Saunders' gruesome murder was and remains the most sensational of the three, at least in the local media. From the very outlet in the city engaged in a months long feeding frenzy. The chum was in the water thanks in large part to the complete incompetence of the Bethany, OK police department. Most of Saunders' body had been found stuffed into a bag in their jurisdiction. The Bethany PD investigation was, for all practical purposes, conducted in public. The names, of both suspects and potential witnesses were released to the media almost as soon as they were identified, as were clues and possible clues. Some leads were solely based on the tales of jail house snitches. After being named in both the print and televised news witnesses changed their stories, denied ever saying anything to the Bethany cops, and began to scatter. Suspects were charged, but eventually released, and finally the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation took over the case, but by then it had gone cold. It remains that way as these words are being typed.
It turned out Kelsey Bransby was shot by an acquaintance, Cole Hopper. Hopper and his girlfriend, Danielle Cooley had dropped by for a chat and to get high. Hopper also brought along a handgun, which he liked to play with while stoned to the gills. That day, at some point, he pointed it at Kelsey Bransby while fooling around and it, of course, went off. Ms. Bransby wasn't killed outright by the shot, but her two, "friends," fled the scene, leaving her mortally wounded and alone in her apartment. Bransby died a day, or two later. By May of 2012 Hopper and Cooley had been arrested in connection with her death.
On November 4, 2011 Alina Fitzpatrick was dropped off by someone near the intersection of NW 24th and Western Ave. It was around 10pm on a Friday night. The name of the person who gave her the ride has never been made public. Rumors floated around the media Alina had been worried about an unidentified man following her and receiving disturbing calls on her cell phone. So much so it was reported she had changed its number earlier. All these reports came from anonymous sources. After her body was found on November 9th precious little was reported by the local media. A lot of that may have had to do with the Oklahoma City Police Department who was conducting the investigation. Unlike the Bethany cops in the Saunders' case, the OKCPD appeared to know how real police work was done.
Unfortunately, those same police, in the end, simply gave up. The end came quickly after Alina Fitzpatrick's autopsy report came back showing a sufficient amount of meth in her system which might have been enough to cause her death. That her body was found nude, littered with abrasions, other signs of a beating and evidence of blunt force trauma to the head didn't matter. Neither did the fact she was found with a gag stuffed in her mouth. Since none of her obvious wounds were enough to kill her, the obvious conclusion was she had OD'd. The state Medical Examiner ruled her death to be, "suspicious." but refused to call it a homicide. It was at that point it seemed the OKC police wrote her murder--because that's what it was--off and closed the books on it.
In some ways the fall of 2011 doesn't seem that far in the past. In other ways it seems like a completely different age. To put it in perspective, Barack H. Obama was still serving his first term as President. Donald Trump was halfway through his run as co-producer and host of the TV show, "The Apprentice." Cole Hopper got nine years for manslaughter. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections lists him as being released but doesn't specify when. The state DOC shows Daniell Cooley is currently an inmate at a facility in Taft, OK, presumably for unrelated charges. In their prison ID photos both are smiling broadly.
If Kelsey Bransby and Carina Saunders were alive today, they'd be 32 years old. Alina Fitzpatrick would have been 30. It is doubtful anyone will be charged in her death. Speaking of Fitzpatrick's case, former Oklahoman reporter, Matt Dinger put it this way, "The police have little confidence they'll ever solve it."
Indeed, one crime was investigated by publicity hungry idiots. The second was committed by the equivalent of a drugged-out Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. And finally, when it came to Alina Fitzpatrick's death, the cops may have been competent, but ultimately, they just didn't give a shit.
sic vita est
11-11-24
It is sad. I think sometimes cases tend to get lost in the priority pile if they cannot be resolved quickly.
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