A new bill passed by the Oklahoma Legislature and signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt empowers the families of crime victims to request that past police investigations be reopened in light of new investigative techniques.
Oklahoma state Senate Bill 1636 was inspired by a true crime. Two young women disappeared from the state fair in 1987. The bodies of Cheryl Ginzer and Lisa Pennington were later found in shallow graves.
The case has never been solved.
Families in such cases may go years or even decades without answers or justice. Now families could seek a new review of the case.
According to the law, this new review must be done only by investigators who were not involved in the original investigation.
Advocates of the bill say there could be as many as 1,000 families in Oklahoma still waiting for justice.
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The new law also establishes timelines and accountability for the government. Authorities must acknowledge requests within one month. They must complete reviews within six months, unless an explanation for an extension is provided. Investigators also must re-interview witnesses and utilize new investigative techniques.
Investigators would have to regularly update families about the status of the renewed investigation.
Democratic state Sen. Carrie Hicks from Oklahoma City authored the bill. She said in public statements:
“I have three young kids. I cannot imagine sending them off to the state fair and never seeing them again. Never having any answers, never having any closure whatsoever as to what happened.”
Prior to the law change, only law enforcement itself could request a new look at a case.
Dorian Quillen, an advocate for families, says that historically, loved ones were told many things by police until the case simply began to lose momentum. According to Quillen, police would say they didn’t have the time anymore. Or they knew who did it but couldn’t make an arrest. Or they were waiting for someone to confess.
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New eyes
Oklahoma’s new cold-case law mandates that investigators utilize new techniques for DNA and forensic testing and to re-interview witnesses. And it must be new investigators leading the way.
The mother of one victim said the new law is not about calling the police wrong. “It’s about getting a fresh set of eyes.”
State Sen. Hicks goes further: “There are at least 1,000 Oklahoma families who have waited for years for justice for their loved ones. This bill will give them an opportunity to finally have the answers and the justice they deserve.”
Said another Oklahoma lawmaker who supported the bill: “We may be able to solve some of these cases by just having someone else look at it.”
Elderly victim
One particular case in Oklahoma shows why there’s good reason to remain hopeful even after decades without answers. It took half-a-century, but detectives solved it in 2024.
An elderly woman from Oklahoma City named Lela Johnston was found by her neighbor raped and strangled to death in 1976.
DNA testing was unavailable at the time. The case went cold until 2004 when investigators turned to new DNA technology. But that didn’t generate names, either. So again the case went cold.
An even newer DNA method was tried many years later in 2023. After a year of testing matches, the investigators had a suspect.
It turned out the suspect had already been killed by his brother after his brother was released from prison. But the case of Lela Johnston was nonetheless finally brought to a close.
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Denied
State Sen. Hicks was already working on criminal-justice policy in the Oklahoma Legislature. She helped lead a study in 2025 showing that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation had nearly 450 cold cases. But the agency had only managed to solve 98.
Said Hicks in statements:
“There’s a saying that justice delayed is justice denied, and it’s true. Some of Oklahoma’s cold cases have been unresolved for decades.”
Advocate Dorian Quillen testified about the approximately 1,000 families statewide that are waiting for answers. “That’s a lot of people. That’s a lot of empty seats at the holidays. That’s a lot of people missing weddings and births and all the things that make up our lives.”
Amanda Newland-Davis, a criminologist with the nonprofit Oklahoma Cold Cases, said that sometimes the detectives just don’t seem to like the families. Detectives are at risk of overlooking something important as a result. Says Newland-Davis:
“Anybody can miss something. We’re all human. I’ve missed things, and I’m willing to admit that I’ve missed things. If someone else can see something that I can’t, please by all means look at it. It’s someone’s life.”
Shallow graves
Oklahoma state Sen. Hicks points to the horrendous murder of two young women to justify her bill empowering families to reopen cold-case investigations.
Lisa Pennington and Cheryl Ginzer vanished from the state fair in 1987. They were eventually discovered in shallow graves.
The two young women were shot in the head. A different caliber was used for each one. People familiar with the case have long believed there were two killers. Said a brother of one victim:
“I remember both of them had beautiful smiles. Both were flamboyant. They enjoyed music and enjoyed life. They were still so young.”
Family advocate Quillen said there were more than just murders.
“We believe there may have been a sexual assault that night and one of the girls saw it and began fighting on behalf of her sister and things got out of hand. That is the story we understand.”
Authorities have never solved the case. Parents of the victims passed away while waiting for investigators to make an arrest.
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By G.W. Schulz