In pursuit of justice, winter 2010, v3. no.1

              INSIDE:
Brixey Plea 2
Trial Results 3
Women in
Prison
4-5
Major Case
Convictions
6
Justice for
Victims
7
Message From
DA Tim Harris
8
W I N T E R 2 0 1 0
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JUSTICE
The hope of all
who suffer.
The dread of all
who wrong.
- John Greenleaf
Whittier
􀁈􄠠
T I M H A R R I S
T U L S A C O U N T Y
D I S T R I C T
A T T O R N E Y
Killer Asks For Death Penalty In Murder Of Two
Tulsa Children, Judge Gives Him Life Without Parole
JOSHUA MULLER fired an
assault rifle into a parked car,
killing LEAH HARRIS, 12, and
DERRIKO ROSS, 16, in July 2007.
SHERIDAN RAND, 12, also was
shot and critically inured and her
sister, 16, narrowly escaped injury.
Muller led police on a three-day
manhunt before he was captured
near Lawton. The assault was
sparked because Muller believed the
girls had taken his wife’s wallet.
In September 2009, Muller pleaded
guilty and asked for a death sen-tence.
He wrote District Judge
Clancy Smith, “I shot through with
the intent to kill everyone...I sure
wish they all died so my body count
could have been higher. . . If I don’t
receive the death penalty you will
force me to kill again... How many is
it going to take?”
Muller told her, “From the begin-ning,
I’ve wanted to get it over fast.
I’m just going to kill somebody
else, to let you know. I’ll send you
a letter when I do.”
Since the murders, Muller has
twice been charged and convicted
of assaulting detention officers.
Leah Harris, 12
and Derriko Ross, 16
Shot to Death
REBECCA
CASTALDI, 24,
was engaged to
marry RANDALL WAGERS
when she went missing in
April 2009. Her parents
spent seven frantic days
searching for her, but said
Wagers seemed uncon-cerned
she was missing.
He told them she left with a
friend, gave them the keys to
his house to search for clues to her disappearance,
and even went to their home at their request to
access cell phone records on the computer to aid
in their search.
When they went to the home Rebecca and Wa-gers
shared, Gayla and Mike Castaldi knew some-thing
was terribly wrong. The couch was missing,
as well as a 55-gallon barrel that had been placed
near the driveway as a trash can.
When Wagers finally confessed to Tulsa Police
Detective Vic Regalado, her parents learned the
truth: He had met with them after he had shot
their daughter in the head, stuffed her in the bar-rel,
dumped it , threw her cell phone on the high-way,
cut bloodstained fabric from the couch, put
the couch in a dumpster, welded a box around
the murder weapon and dumped it in a pond.
Wagers claimed he was drunk and had “blackout
vision” when he shot her in the head. He admit-ted
that he left her in the barrel in his house the
next night while he went to a bar with friends.
At a March trial, a Tulsa County jury convicted
Wagers of FIRST-DEGREE MURDER and
sentenced him to LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE.
First Assistant District Attorney Doug
Drummond prosecuted the case.
Rebecca Castaldi
Shot to Death
Muller told his public defenders
not to present evidence at a De-cember
sentencing, but they ar-gued
for leniency, saying one
psychologist called him a schizo-phrenic
substance abuser and
claiming his childhood was riddled
with abuse and poverty.
First Assistant District Attorney
Doug Drummond argued for the
death penalty for “someone who
goes out and murders two chil-dren...
He himself, and I think this
speaks volumes, believes he de-serves
the ultimate punishment.
The case speaks for itself,” Drum-mond
said.
Calling the death penalty for Mul-ler
akin to a “state-ordered sui-cide,”
Judge Smith sentenced him
to LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE.
In Pursuit of Justice
V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1
Jury Convicts Tulsan Who Shot Girlfriend,
Stuffed Her In Barrel, Dumped Body Near Nowata