The Chanda Turner Reform Act (SB250) has been signed into law, and will go into effect Nov. 1, 2011! Families can now appeal their loved-ones' death certificates!

 Paul Eugene Williford confessed to killing two elderly women in Tulsa, OK after he was arrested for attempting to sexually assault and kill a third, but was foiled by the arrival of the woman's granddaughter.

Newspaper articles report the first two victims were found in six inches of water in their bathtubs.  Both deaths were originally attributed to natural causes, and the ME's Office did not conduct autopsies despite the fact that the deaths were unattended and suspicious.

The body of one victim was exhumed after Williford's confession, and the autopsy that should have been done in the first place revealed her cause of death was actually strangulation. 

Williford was belatedly convicted of First Degree Murder years after the death of his victims.

See this LINK to read more on this story. 

 63 O.S. Section 938 states that the Medical Examiner's Office SHALL investigate the following types of deaths: violent, whether apparently homicidal, suicidal, or accidental ... and deaths under suspicious, unusual or unnatural circumstances.

The Medical Examiner's Office's failure to conduct an investigation and autopsy of the first victim in this case left a murderer free to kill again.  One of these women had to be exhumed so her cause of death could be corrected.  Had the killer not been interrupted by his third victim's granddaughter, there would have been a third murdered woman.

We deserve better.  We deserve a Medical Examiner's Office that will follow the law, investigate unattended deaths, and perform autopsies to ensure people aren't getting away with murder.  Had our ME's Office been doing it's job by investigating and performing an autopsy in the first death, a homicide investigation may have denied Williford the opportunity to hurt his next two victims.  Instead, murderers easily escape detection by staging scenes to look like accidents or suicides.  Then our underfunded ME's Office turns a blind eye, no pathologist ever looks at the deceased, and errors are made in cause of death determinations.  This denies homicide victims justice unless their murderers feel like confessing.  This is unacceptable and MUST be changed.

The legislature created this ME's Office, and only the legislature can fix it.  Please sign our PETITION today to Reform the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office.  Our safety and security depends on it.

Special thanks to Lee Ely for submitting these news articles to the website.

Please sign our Petition for the Chanda Turner Reform Bill today.