Richard Oxford was executed by the State of Missouri for a double murder
According to court documents Richard Oxford and his cellmate would escape from the Conner Correctional Center in Hominy, Oklahoma. The two would later be seen leaving a tavern with Harold and Melba Wampler. Six weeks later the bodies of Harold and Melba Wampler would be found, they had been bound and fatally shot
Richard Oxford would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Richard Oxford would be executed by lethal injection on August 21 1996
Richard Oxford Case
On November 11, 1986 Richard Oxford and his cellmate, Richard Brown escaped from the Conner Correctional Center in Hominy, Oklahoma. On November 14, 1986 Oxford and Brown were identified as leaving the Paint Stallion tavern in Joplin, Missouri with a local married couple Harold and Melba Wampler.
The Wamplers were missing until the Missouri Highway Patrol received a tip on January 2, 1987 that the Wamplers’ car was seen at the airport in Kansas City, Missouri. Further investigation revealed the Wamplers’ bodies wrapped in a blanket in the trunk of their car.
An autopsy determined that the Wamplers had both died as a result of gunshot wounds to their left temples. Their hands and feet had been bound and duct tape covered their mouths. According to the physical evidence of their bodies it was determined that the Wamplers had been dead for approximately six weeks.
Richard Oxford was arrested on December 22, 1986 as a fugitive in Las Vegas, Nevada. Found in his possession was a wristwatch that belonged to Harold Wampler. Oxford’s fingerprints were later found on groceries in the Wamplers’ automobile and his hair was found on the blanket in the trunk.
While incarcerated in Nevada awaiting return to Missouri, Oxford told a fellow cellmate that he killed the Wamplers. The cellmate later testified at Oxford’s trial.
