Woman found dead in woods, and her boyfriend is now charged in 3 deaths, OK cops say
Police recently found a missing Oklahoma woman’s body in the woods and her boyfriend is accused of killing her — and she’s not his only victim, according to Tulsa authorities.
On April 20, officers found the body of 24-year-old Tyra Whitaker in a wooded area next to a pond on the city’s east side. She had been last seen alive with her boyfriend, Terryl Brooks.
But Brooks is already in custody, and has been since early April when he was arrested and charged with the murders of two other women, Tulsa police said in a news release.
Officers carrying out a welfare check on April 3 found a woman named Star Rainbow Dancer shot to death in her apartment, a release said. Dancer had been letting a man, later identified as Brooks, live with her.
Evidence found in Dancer’s apartment led investigators to believe that the person who killed her, and the person responsible for killing a different woman, Elizabeth Dillard, on March 25, were one and the same.
The killings were particularly concerning to investigators, Lt. Brandon Watkins told the Tulsa World in early April.
“You have to kill three to be a serial killer — that’s where it starts at, and thankfully as far as we know, there’s no third victim,” Watkins told the Tulsa World on April 5, adding it’s a good thing he was caught quickly.
“If you kill two people that fast, it’s pretty obvious that you don’t have a problem with killing people. I doubt very, very seriously that he would have stopped,” Watkins told the newspaper.
Two weeks later, police found a third body, Whitaker’s. It’s not clear how she was killed or when, but she had been missing since January 19, last seen getting into a Chevrolet pickup with Brooks.
Brooks will likely face another murder charge on top of the two already brought against him, police said.
Anyone with information about the killings can contact Tulsa Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Woman found dead in woods, and her boyfriend is now charged in 3 deaths, OK cops say."