Oklahoma’s Most Notorious Serial Killer – Roger Dale Stafford

Oklahoma City, 1978 - You're walking home, hearing the clacking of your shoes pound against the pavement as you make your way home on a dark, eerie evening with dimly lit streets and hardly a soul in sight.

In the distance, you can hear someone knocking on a neighbor's door, asking to be let in, but you don't pay them any mind.

Instead, you walk until you've reached your own door, just in time for the ten o'clock evening news. That's when you discover that one of Oklahoma's most notorious serial killers, Roger Dale Stafford, has been arrested.

Who was Roger Dale Stafford?

Over a span of three weeks, Stafford murdered nine people in Oklahoma: a family of three headed to a funeral near Purcell and six employees at the infamous Sirloin Stockade Restaurant. He wasn't the only one behind the crimes - but in the end, it was his arrogance that exposed them all.

When the Lorenz family murders were discovered, law enforcement only had a few sketches and witness testimony to rely on in order to solve their case. However, after the Sirloin Stockade incident, they realized there could be a connection between the two.

@cannonandassociates The sirloin stockade massacre shook the state in 1978, when Roger Dale Stafford brutally took the lives of six employees. Discover what really happened behind the scenes of this infamous trial? #cannonandassociates #criminaldefense #oklahoma #policeofficer #searchwarrant #criminaldefenseattorney #lawyer #attorney ♬ original sound - John Cannon & Associates

Stafford not only robbed these people before ending their lives, but he also proved to be one of the most arrogant killers in true crime history. His arrogance, luckily, led to his demise.

What happened to the Lorenz family?

According to a recounting from LordanARTS YouTube, Melvin Lorenz, his wife, Linda, and their twelve-year-old son were en route to a funeral near Purcell when they stopped to help a struggling traveler - or so they thought. Instead, they were robbed, shot, and later found dumped on the side of the road.

Witnesses at the time were only able to give a brief description of three people seen in a car that appeared to be the Lorenz family vehicle. Those sketches, though, would later prove vital to the investigation.

Sirloin Stockade Robbery goes from bad to much, much worse.

On the evening of July 16, 1978, Stafford and his wife, Verna, and his brother, Harold, waited for the last guest to leave the Sirloin Stockade. Near 10 p.m., they knocked on the restaurant's doors and waited for the manager to answer. Once he did, he was greeted with two pistols and quickly let the group in.

According to Verna's testimony, Stafford decided to murder the employees after being taunted by the manager, who made fun of the robbers for stealing money instead of earning it.

After they handed over the money from the safe, Roger ordered all six employees into the freezer. Then, he and the other two accomplices shot and killed five of the employees. One of the employees was found still alive, but later died before she could be seen at the hospital.

How did law enforcement make a connection between the murders?

Not only were the Staffords so careless with the pistols they used for the murders that they dropped them where they would eventually be found by a small child, but they acted as though they would never be caught by investigators.

On January 3, 1979, an anonymous call led law enforcement straight to Verna and Harold. "I've partied with the two people in those sketches," the caller told them. He even handed over their names on the call, but never identified himself. But he didn't need to, because the police did soon after.

After eight months of investigating, officers were able to arrest Roger Dale Stafford and his wife, Verna, for the murders of the six employees at the Sirloin Stockade in April 1979. Verna's testimony eventually led to Roger's conviction for the Lorenz family murders, as well. Harold Stafford had been killed in a motorcycle accident six days after the shooting in Oklahoma City.

Stafford was eventually executed for his crimes in 1995.