Post by LadyBlue on Jul 14, 2007 16:07:13 GMT -5
Owen McDonnell, of the Caddo sheriff's office, looks through a drainage ditch off Jefferson-Paige Road for the remains of Kristi O'Pry after the location was given to them by Eric Mickelson, a suspect in the 1996 killing.
The man suspected of killing an elderly Shreveport man this week is telling authorities he's also responsible for the death of a woman who has been missing since 1996.
Eric Mickelson, of the 2800 block of Alkay Drive in Shreveport, is behind bars in connection with the slaying of 86-year-old Charles Martin. He also confessed to the death of Kristi O'Pry, Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator said Friday.
O'Pry's case commanded headlines for months and, until now, had few leads other than investigators determined Mickelson was the last man known to be with her. He never was charged in that case.
"The O'Pry case has haunted us as it has her family for years," Prator said. "The investigators worked hundreds of hours on it, but they were never able to find any physical evidence that linked him to the case and he refused the polygraph. We are relieved. It's a good thing to get it closed, but it's a bad thing that it happened."
Friday, investigators searched an area near the American Rose Center on Jefferson-Paige Road near Greenwood in Caddo Parish trying to locate O'Pry's remains. Mickelson told deputies that's where her body was dumped after she was killed.
Deputies dug at times with shovels and sent in a trained dog to search a creek and boggy area. Parish workers later joined, using a track hoe to dig out chunks of concrete and mud and put it in a dump truck. The sludge will be sifted through at another location.
The sheriff's office did not report locating tangible evidence.
The circumstances surrounding O'Pry's and Martin's deaths have "a lot of similarities," said Kay Ward, the sheriff's lead investigator on the O'Pry case. Ward declined to list them.
Prator said that no one else is suspected in the O'Pry case and that Mickelson has not been linked to any other local homicides. But Prator's office is contacting other agencies because of what he said is the "serial nature" of the O'Pry and Martin slayings.
Shreveport police, citing investigative integrity, have been unforthcoming with details in the Martin case.
O'Pry was last seen July 19, 1996, when Mickelson stopped at her sister's house. Mickelson said he later dropped the then 26-year-oldwoman off at the El Chico Restaurant entrance at South Park Mall in Shreveport.
Mickelson, who met O'Pry through her live-in boyfriend, reportedly took O'Pry to run errands and to her sister's home before the two went to dinner about 7 p.m., according to investigators.
Paige O'Pry Dowden, O'Pry's sister, said Friday that the two stopped at her residence about 2 p.m. that day and that they'd already been to the restaurant but left because the drinks were too expensive.
"He had stopped by Thrifty Liquor store and bought some whiskey. And he sat on the bed of his truck, at my house, and drank it," Dowden said.
O'Pry was reported missing four days later. No one has heard from her since.
Prator would not elaborate on details about her death but said he's convinced they've got the right man. The 38-year-old has been on the sheriff's office's horizon as a suspect in her disappearance for a decade. But his involvement with this latest incident, a crime of violence, is what spurred them to re-examine the case.
"Our people were on it just as soon as we heard he was suspected of killing (Martin)," Prator said. "His name immediately raised a flag. They are very familiar with it."
Mickelson and Beverly Suzette Arthur, also 38, each faces a charge of first-degree murder in connection with Martin's death. Martin's body was found Thursday in Caddo Parish.
For the past 11 years, Dowden feared it would take someone else dying at the hands of Mickelson before authorities could link him to her sister's death, she said.
"We really tried to find Kristi's remains because we knew if he killed her that he would do it again," Dowden said. "I'm very sad that Mr. Martin had to die. If they could have gotten (Mickelson) back then, then this poor man would be here today."
Mickelson has yet to be charged with O'Pry's death. Prator said his office still is conducting interviews and running down what Mickelson has told investigators.
Friday's news of the confession brought mixed emotions to O'Pry's family. Dowden said it's incredibly unfortunate, but the family has prayed for this day.
"It's a combination of joy and, at the same time, I feel sad thinking about the torture my family has gone through.
"The most important thing is finding her remains so that we can have a burial. She deserves that."
www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/NEWS03/707140332