Oklahoma City
Saturday, February 31st

  Escaped psychiatric patient Bobby Jack Simpson has been found in Perkins. The Red Rock Behavioral Services patient escaped early Friday evening, and was apprehended early Saturday morning. Simpson, who was convicted of murdering 24 people in the 1990’s, was deemed insane and ordered to spend the rest of his life at Red Rock Behavioral services under the care and supervision of doctors.

Simpson is nationally known for the murders in the 1990’s. Simpson is also known for having a hook on his left arm, in place of a prosthetic hand. However, when Simpson was discovered early Saturday morning, his hook was missing. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) spokesperson Jessica Brown said she thinks the fact that Simpson’s hook is missing is direct evidence that he was involved in the near attack on Bethany teens Friday night, as reported by the OKC Times earlier.
“We don’t know for sure yet, but we are pretty positive,” Brown said.

Simpson was discovered at approximately 4:15 Saturday morning.
Simpson was hiding in the backseat of Julia Hartley’s car; Hartley had no clue that Simpson was there.

Hartley, a resident of Cushing, was invited to an event hosted by the female students of UCO’s West Hall dormitory Friday Night. At the conclusion of the event, Hartley began to travel back to her Cushing home. Hartley stopped for gas in Perkins, a town that is 16 miles from Cushing. She arrived at the Texaco in Perkins at approximately 3:55 Saturday morning.

“I was on ‘E’ and just needed gas,” Hartley said. “The (gas station) attendant kept stalling me.”


The Texaco employee, Mike McGruder, spotted Simpson in the back seat of Hartley’s car while he was pumping gas for her. McGruder said that he thought nothing of it at first.
“I just thought it was her boyfriend, or her dad,” McGruder said. “Then I realized that the guy was sort of raggedy-looking, and she was all dressed up.”
McGruder said that he was afraid to ask Hartley about the man in the back seat.
According to Hartley, McGruder kept offering services, such as an oil change, or a cup of hot cocoa. Hartley admitted she became angered and annoyed with McGruder.
“I was tired and I was just trying to get home,” Hartley said.
As Hartley was about to leave the store, McGruder stopped her. McGruder then asked Hartley if she knew a man was lying on the floor of her backseat.
“I was really scared when (McGruder) asked that,” Hartley said. “I think my heart stopped beating for a moment.”
McGruder and Hartley immediately called the police, who arrested the man.

OSBI’s Jessica Brown stated that Perkins police did not immediately know that the man in the backseat was Simpson, but it was only a matter of time until police figured it out. Brown stated that one Perkins police officer recognized Simpson’s face from a news report that he had seen on television Friday night.

A Perkins police officer immediately phoned the OSBI, who are questioning Simpson about the aforementioned Bethany incident, the double homicide that took place in Nichols Hills also on Friday, as well as the murder of UCO student Lauren Winslow.




Author's Notes

This story is very popular. Like the previous stories, elements of this story have been used in movies and are known throughout pop culture. The original story has many different variations. I chose the variation that involves a woman making a late night/ early morning trip to a gas station. The gas attendant scares the woman, but he is only trying to help.
I’ve added/named characters, changed the style that the story is told, and combined parts of another story I’ve written for this story book. Bobby Jack Simpson was a character in “Bethany Teens Escape Danger”, and he makes an appearance in this story too. Also, the West Hall Girl’s party that is referenced in this story is from my “UCO Student Found Slain” story. I just wanted to incorporate elements from my other stories for this story. I wanted to tie all the stories together since this is the last story. I feel that maybe readers can decide if Simpson has committed the murders of the night. Simpson could have done it, but most likely did not. With the way I’ve set it up, it's clear that Simpson was the person responsible for the scare in Bethany, and its likely he’s responsible for the UCO murder. But how’d he get from Bethany to the back of Julia’s car in Edmond? How’d he have time to do everything? What about the Nichols Hills family? Maybe Simpson really isn’t responsible.

Bibliography

Title: The Killer In The Backseat
Websource:Snopes.com