Cross CountryHominy Murder : : Westbrook Competent to Stand Trial

An AP story in the Bartlesville Examiner today reports that after a psych eval, Roy Westbrook has been found competent to stand trial for the murder of Rebecca Clements. No word yet on when the trial might start. Clements was shot and killed in July. Earlier posts on this story, in reverse chronological order, are here, here and here.

Cross CountryHominy Murder : : Hominy Murder Update: Westbrook in Court

On July 19, Roy Westbrook walked into the Hominy Diner, pulled a Glock and shot waitress Rebecca Clements dead. The early accounts of the Oklahoma shooting were enigmatic; later came the clarifying details — it was all a real-estate dispute.

Last week, a judge in Pawhuska ordered Westbrook to undergo a mental evaluation. According to the AP account in the Shawnee News-Star, Westbrook told the judge that "the term 'first-degree murder' didn't make sense to him." Westbrook also testified that "he received Social Security disability and had a third-grade reading level."

Last year, Westbrook was named Hominy Citizen of the Year and honored by the local chamber of commerce and the weekly paper, the Hominy News Progress, for his efforts in improving a local park.

Cross CountryHominy Murder : : Hominy Murder Update

I'm way late in getting to this, but I wanted to post it anyway, especially since the actual details of Rebecca Clements' muder are so different than what I first made up on reading the early enigmatic account, which included the erroneous report that Clements was pregnant.

Clements, who was gunned down in cold blood as she waited tables in the Hominy, OK, Diner, was apparently murdered because of a real-estate dispute and a letter-to the-editor in the local newspaper. The man charged with her murder, Roy Westbrook, rented a house to Clements' sister and was having some disupte with his tenant.

Editor & Publisher talked to Ramona Brown, the general manager of the local newspaper, and got the story:

According to Brown, Westbrook spray-painted the phrase "get out" on a house rented by Clements' sister, who apparently owed Westbrook money. This prompted Clements to write the letter to the editor, which criticized prominent citizens for vandalism but did not mention Westbrook's name.

Once the letter was published, Westbrook, a prominent local citizen, appparently figured his best move was to head a pawn shop and buy a Glock. The full E&P story is here.

Cross CountryHominy Murder : : Law & Order: Hominy, OK

Front-page story from the July 28 issue of The Review, a weekly Oklahoma paper "serving all of Osage County and Kay County." The paper's motto is, "Where there is God, there is Love."

Hominy man arrested and charged with murder in 1st degree

Roy Robert Westbrook, 63, of Hominy was arrested at approximately 12 noon July 19, 2005 and charged with Murder in the First Degree after he entered the Hominy Diner at 111 W. Main in Hominy and shot Rebecca "Becky" Clements, 26, also of Hominy. Clements was transported to Cleveland Area Hospital and pronounced dead upon arrival as the result of three gunshot wounds to her body. According to the report filed in Osage County Courthouse, one wound was to the victim's mouth and the two others were to her upper body.

According to Investigator Harold Hughs, who was advised of the shooting at 12 o'clock noon, witnesses report that Westbrook entered the diner and asked the cashier working who a waitress was. The cashier identified the waitress as Rebecca "Becky" Clements, the victim in this case.

The cashier said that the defendant then left the diner and returned about 15 minutes later.

Another witness stated that she was standing next to the victim gathering dinners that were prepared and she turned sideways and identified Roy Westbrook as standing behind her. She said she heard a loud bang and turned and saw a black gun. She said she saw the victim fall to the floor.

She and other patrons began to run away toward the front door and she turned around and witnessed the defendant pointing the gun at them. She saw him point the gun in a downward motion toward the victim and fired a second time.

The victim had told this witness on previous occasions that she was about two months pregnant. However, reports have been confirmed that the victim was not pregnant.

After leaving the diner, Westbrook was stopped about one block west of the diner on Main Street. Located in the vehicle he was driving was a Glock Model 17 9mm gun, that was later discovered purchased from the Osage Pawn Shop in Hominy sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on July 19 by the defendant. The owner of the Pawn Shop also provided the defendant with five live rounds of ammunition for the gun.

Investigator Harold Hughs transported the the defendant to Osage County Sheriff's Office, where he was charged at the time with two counts of of murder in the first degree.

On July 20, Westbrook appeared before Judge Boggs in person and the court entered a not guilty plea. The defendant was held without bail after the court denied bond in the charge. Status Conference was set for July 21.