Chapter 1: What happened to Owachige Osceola?
Hi, everyone. This is an off week for the deck, but I'm popping in your feeds anyway because I want to bring your attention back to a case that we covered a few years ago on this show. Awachige Asiola. Some of you will remember her case because we did a letter writing campaign to urge the Oklahoma Emmy to change Awachige's cause of death from undetermined to homicide. And a lot of you took action.
But I'm sad to report that all these years later, despite clear evidence of murder, Awachige's death still isn't classified as a homicide. And it's standing in the way of getting answers in her case.
The other reason I want to highlight her story is because earlier this month, the Oklahoma governor vetoed a bill that allowed the state to help fund solving missing and murdered indigenous persons' cases. According to reporting in the Oklahoma newspaper, the governor said that he couldn't back the bill because, quote, justice must be blind to race.
The announcement was issued on May 5th, which is a national day of awareness for the MMIP crisis. The detective overseeing Awachigi's case made us aware of this because he is in the process of trying to get the Bureau of Indian Affairs on board to help with her case. And he fears that due to the governor's veto, that might not be realistic anymore.
So please, listen to Awachigi's story, which we originally aired in May 2022. And if you feel inclined, it is not too late to take action. Our card this week is Awachigi Asiola, the Eight of Diamonds from Oklahoma. Even though Awachigi called for help on the morning her killer broke in, what actually happened inside her apartment is still a mystery.
And while evidence supports police's theory about who killed her, one huge hurdle still stands in the way of justice. I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is The Deck. On September 25th, 2013, Toni Brown was hanging out at home in Anadarko, Oklahoma, when she saw a Facebook status from her friend Awachiki. It had been posted earlier that morning and read, quote, Moose is trying to KM.
Toni knew Awachiki was dating a guy named Moose, but she wasn't sure what KM meant. Just then, Toni's phone alerted her to a text from Awachiki that said the exact same thing as her Facebook status. Moose is trying to K.M. Awachiki wasn't answering any calls or texts, and Toni was freaked out, so she rounded up three of their friends to go check on her.
The group made the roughly hour-long drive from Anadarko to Awachiki's apartment in Norman, Oklahoma. And when they pulled up, their feelings of unease only grew. They saw that the door was slightly open from having been kicked in. They could tell because there was a shoe print on the door and the frame was splintered. So Tony and the group didn't even go in. They called police instead.
As soon as Norman police officers got inside, they saw cabinets and drawers left open and stuff everywhere. But when they called out to see if anyone was home, no one answered. It was in an upstairs bedroom that police found Awachigi. She was laying on the floor, face down, with her sheets and comforter tossed over her head.
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Chapter 2: What evidence suggests Owachige was murdered?
We reached out to the Oklahoma's office of the chief medical examiner to try and better understand their findings in this case. But they declined to be interviewed. In a letter to Detective Parks in response to his asking them to at least recategorize Awachige's death as a homicide, the chief M.E. said, quote, "...whereas the circumstances of death are indeed suspicious."
The cause of death in this case is undetermined. The manner is best classified as undetermined." In the early days of the investigation, police interviewed everyone in Awachigi's orbit. Her friends, an ex-husband, her boyfriend, her family, all of whom had alibis that checked out. Only one person could be placed at Awachigi's apartment on the morning of September 24th.
Do you have an opinion as to who may have taken your daughter's life?
I'm going to say that, according to my detectives, He indicates that all evidence leads to one person.
I want justice for my baby. In November of 2020, the Seminole tribe wrote letters to the Oklahoma Attorney General's office and called for a formal independent review of the methodology used during Owachige's autopsy. But as far as Detective Parks knows, nothing came of it. At the end of the day, he wants to see charges brought against Rob, even if it's for second-degree murder.
I can point the finger. Did Northern Police Department fall down on this case a little bit? Yeah, we should have sent a patrol officer on that first 911 call. There should have been somebody there within a few minutes. But we did what we could to rectify that problem. Should the medical examiner's office have better supervision over their pathologist? Absolutely.
They have done nothing to reconcile their mistake. Should the district attorney file a case against Robert Ross for the death of Awashige? Absolutely. Because it's the right thing to do. Leave it up to a jury to decide whether he's guilty or not guilty. But it's the right thing to do. It needs to be done.
To this day, no arrests have been made in connection to Awachiki's death. Her missing phone and debit card have never been found. Roberta told us she hopes to one day see the whites of the eyes belonging to the person who stole her daughter's future.
I would say that there are... measures that have been put in place with the Lord, and He will seek justice for me and Awajiki. And whoever did this to her, he's going to answer to the Lord.
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