Oklahoma woman: Sex offender controlled my daughter’s family

HENRYETTA, Okla. — As law enforcement officials went silent Tuesday while piecing together what led to the killing of seven people in rural Oklahoma, family members of those slain recalled the controlling nature of one of the dead, who was a registered sex offender.

Since the bodies were found early Monday, authorities have released scant information on who was killed, how they died and who killed them. But two relatives said all the victims were shot to death.

Janette Mayo, whose daughter and three teenage grandchildren were among the dead, said the controlling behavior of her son-in-law, Jesse McFadden, was concerning, but that the family didn’t learn about his criminal history until a few months ago.

“He lied to my daughter, and he convinced her it was all just a huge mistake,” Mayo, of Westville, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “He was very standoffish, generally very quiet, but he kept my daughter and the kids basically under lock and key. He had to know where they were at all times, which sent red flags up.”

Okmulgee County Sheriff Eddy Rice said the bodies were found on the property where McFadden lived near Henryetta, a town of about 6,000 about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Oklahoma City. Rice said the bodies included two missing teens, Ivy Webster, 14, and Brittany Brewer, 16, along with McFadden. Rice said the state medical examiner would have to confirm the victims’ identities.

Mayo said the sheriff’s office notified her late Monday that the other four victims were her daughter, Holly Guess, 35, and her grandchildren, Rylee Elizabeth Allen, 17; Michael James Mayo, 15; and Tiffany Dore Guess, 13. Mayo said Tiffany was close friends with Ivy and Brittany, who were spending the weekend with the family.

While Rice declined to provide details of how they died, Mayo, 59, said the sheriff’s office told her that her daughter and grandchildren died from gunshot wounds.

Ivy’s father filed a missing person report with the local sheriff’s office when she didn’t return home Sunday night after spending the weekend with McFadden, Guess and her children. Justin Webster said he thought the children went with McFadden to spend some time on a ranch where he was working near McAlester.

He said law enforcement officials also told him that all of the victims suffered gunshot wounds, that some had been lined up. Webster echoed descriptions of McFadden as controlling and unusual, but said he had no idea about McFadden’s criminal background.

“I would say he was weird,” Webster said. “He was always getting into his kids’ phones and reading all their snap messages and all that. It wasn’t in a way of a concerned parent. It was more of keeping tabs on the kids.”