By Manny Gamallo
Tulsa World
January 15, 2009
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=12&articleid=20090115_12_0_KMHatr622570
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| Marvin Lowe, 51, has been charged with 14 counts of lewd molestation. |
WELEETKA — A local minister charged with allegedly molesting young girls is not a suspect in the June 8 slayings of two girls along a county road not far from his church, authorities said Thursday.
Marvin Lowe, 51, has been charged with 14 counts of lewd molestation, along with one count of lewd exhibition and another count of rape by instrumentation.
Lowe, whose initial court appearance was held Wednesday at the Okfuskee County Courthouse in Okemah, is now being held at the county jail in lieu of $240,000 bail.
He is accused of molesting girls ranging in age from eight to 14, officials said.
His church, the Arbecka Indian Baptist Church of Weleetka, is located a half-mile away from where the bodies of Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, and Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, were found on June 8.
Each girl was shot several times, and their bodies were found in a shallow ditch along County Line Road (N. 3890 Road), about four miles northeast of Weleetka.
Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said Lowe is not a suspect in the June 8 slayings.
“To my knowledge,” she said, “he has never been a suspect” in the slayings.
However, she said the OSBI will now question Lowe as "a matter of routine," largely because of his alleged involvement with young girls and also because of the proximity of the church to the homicide scene.
Brown said she is unaware if Lowe owns a gun.
She said the homicide investigation is still ongoing, with agents still tracking leads. The OSBI believes at least two killers are involved in the slaying of the girls, because they were shot with two different caliber bullets.
The bodies of the girls were found about 800 feet north of the Placker home. The girls, both best friends, had gone for a walk that Sunday afternoon to a local bridge about a half-mile north of the Placker home.
They were returning to the home when they were suddenly ambused, authorities said. The killings shocked the nation and made international headlines.
A reward of more than $30,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrests and convictions of those resposible for the killings.
Anyone with information should call the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017.
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