Tribes vs. Gov. Stitt, white supremacists: The Oklahoman's most influential stories of 2023

The images still haunt. Five teenagers in the small town of Henryetta, murdered by a convicted sex-offender who should never have been free. The mother of three of the them was also killed by the same man, her husband, Jesse McFadden, before he killed himself.

The Oklahoman's reporting last May showed how the state's criminal justice system missed multiple chances to lock up McFadden.

McFadden, who was convicted in 2003 of raping a 17-year-old at knifepoint, was accused in 2017 of soliciting child porn from a teen girl while still in prison. Yet, that case languished even after he was set free in 2020 with the additional charge still hanging over him. He then ignored orders not to contact her before trial.

McFadden’s trial was finally set for May 1, the day authorities found his body and six others. 

Changes to Oklahoma law in 2018 were meant to protect the rights of victims while their cases work their way through court. But five years later, The Oklahoman's reporting showed how the state court system still failed to deliver justice to a young victim — and to act before six others were killed.

A deeper look into McFadden's life in and out of prison revealed a disturbing picture of a sex-driven con man and avowed racist who only got worse as the years went by. The case has prompted calls for reform.

The Henryetta murders were among the most horrific crimes to occur in Oklahoma last year. I point to them not to dredge up a painful tragedy but to cast a light on the importance of the kind of deep reporting The Oklahoman does every year. Local authorities in Henryetta initially left loads of potential evidence unsecured at McFadden's rented home. What was there to investigate? one official intimated. They knew who did it, and he was dead.

There was a lot to investigate, it turns out. Much of it centering on systemic breakdowns that let McFadden remain free for so long and to be around children. Digging in and exposing these kinds of breakdowns in the hopes of preventing further tragedies is what news organizations like The Oklahoman do. It's one of the many stories we did in 2023 that had important implications for our state and our readers. Here's a look at some of the others.

Broken Trust: How the Oklahoma County jail went from being deadly to becoming among the nation's deadliest

Everyone knew the Oklahoma County jail was deadly. A grand jury in March concluded that most of the deaths were preventable. County officials blamed the jail's tower design and staffing shortages. The Oklahoman went deeper. In a yearlong investigation, we reviewed thousands of internal jail documents obtained by our reporters, examined death rates at other large jails across the country and interviewed dozens of former inmates and their family members, former jail employees, public officials, prosecutors, defense attorneys and incarceration experts from across the country.

We found a jail that went from being troubled to becoming among the nation's deadliest under the watch of a nine-member trust that was installed in 2020 to fix the problems. Under the trust, the death rate went from 4.09 deaths per 1,000 inmates from 2018 to 2020 to 10.3 in 2021, the jail's first full year under trust leadership. It remained at 9.12 in 2022, at a rate four and five times greater than any of the nation’s largest and most troubled jail systems we examined.

Our team of reporters uncovered how poor infrastructure, short staffing, guard misconduct, unsupervised inmates, lax mental health treatment, relatively poor medical care and a thriving drug economy led to 43 inmate deaths — including homicides, suicides and fatal drug overdoses — since the trust took over facility management.

We also told the intimate stories of inmates (many of them in for minor offenses), guards and staff who had suffered in the jail. As county officials look for a location for a new jail, our reporting should prompt deeper reforms than just a new design and we'll continue to follow the trust's progress.

Schism rocks United Methodist Church in Oklahoma

Religion reporter Carla Hinton was the main source of news for many United Methodists in the state, talking to members of congregations and state and national leaders of the denomination while it was undergoing a major schism locally and globally. Across the world, United Methodist regional bodies negotiated with churches that wished to withdraw from the United Methodist Church over issues including same-sex marriage and gay clergy. The process exposed major differences of opinion on doctrine and finances and ended up in court for more than one Oklahoma church. We heard from many people in the church that they looked to Carla for the latest news and she was often lauded for being balanced in her coverage.

'Killers of The Flower Moon' reaps rewards for the state, but pain still lingers

Entertainment writer Brandy McDonnell covered multiple angles of what has been much more than just a movie for many Oklahomans. "Killers of The Flower Moon," Martin Scorsese's epic based on the book of the same name, focuses on an Osage family during what was known as the Reign of Terror in Oklahoma in the early 1920s which led to the deaths of many Osage people for their oil wealth. Brandy not only covered the major stars and film notaries involved, but also talked to the families still living in Pawhuska and Fairfax and the people who continue to be affected today. She also looked at the impact of the movie on the state economically and socially.

Ryan Walters' war on 'woke indoctrination' in Oklahoma schools

Ryan Walters seems to make news everyday, and by his own design. The Oklahoma State Department of Education, which Walters took over as the newly elected state schools superintendent last year, was largely intended as a support agency to help public school districts succeed. There was lots of work to do. Oklahoma schools have continued to lag near the bottom of the country in educational success. But under Walters, the agency has become a battleground in America's culture wars. His constant declarations against so-called woke indoctrination have alienated teachers and, many believe, seem more designed to promote his political aspirations than help students achieve.

The Oklahoman has chronicled his adventures and the toll it is taking on schools. We wrote the first profile of Matt Langston, the Texas political operative whom people close to Walters say is largely responsible for the superintendent's polarizing and offensive messaging style. Our reporting revealed how a coordinated effort by Walters and conservative groups orchestrated a campaign to promote school vouchers while making it look like a "grassroots" effort. We've told the stories of officials who have left the agency complaining of Walters' lack of transparency and the growing concern by lawmakers over his behavior. And Opinion editor Clytie Bunyan won the national Carmage Walls Commentary Prize for courageous and constructive editorial writing for her piece calling on legislators to remove Walters for his toxic rhetoric and failure to take on Oklahoma's extensive education challenges.

Developer backs out of Adventure District project after history of unpaid debts uncovered

After a government committee approved a request of $3.8 million to assist in construction of a $35 million camping resort in Oklahoma City's Adventure District, reporter Steve Lackmeyer revealed the developer had a history of unpaid debts and financial disputes. That was news to the committee, which included representatives of Oklahoma County, Metro Tech, the Metropolitan Library System, the Oklahoma City-County Health Department and the city of Oklahoma City. The request was withdrawn following Steve's story.

Oklahoma lawmaker was paid $100K over appraisal for home in turnpike expansion route

Steve did more important watchdog work when he revealed a Newcastle lawmaker, whose house was in the potential pathway of a controversial new toll road, was the first to sell her property to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. Rep. Sherrie Conley was paid $103,460 above the appraised value and was given nearly $26,000 in moving expenses.

Conley, R-Newcastle, who sits on the state House Transportation Committee, contacted the government liaison for the turnpike authority and met with the deputy director less than 48 hours after the agency unveiled the map of proposed new toll roads as part of the 15-year, $5 billion ACCESS Oklahoma toll road expansion plan.

The authority and Conley insisted they did nothing wrong, but without Steve's reporting the transaction might have gone unnoticed. Arming residents with the facts around how public funds are being spent, and whether undue influence is at play, is one of the more important things a news organization does.

Oklahoma judge recorded scrolling Facebook, texting while presiding over trial for 2-year-old's death

The testimony was heartbreaking, involving the fatal beating of a 2-year-old boy. But the judge, overseeing her first murder trial, was busy scrolling through Facebook and, in texts with her female bailiff, joked about the size of prosecutors' private parts, called the key witness a liar and admired the looks of a testifying police officer. Investigative reporter Nolan Clay broke the story and obtained exclusive footage from courtroom cameras showing Lincoln County District Judge Traci Soderstrom in action.

The judge exchanged more than 500 text messages with her bailiff during her first murder trial, mocking the physical appearance of attorneys, jurors and witnesses, an investigation later found. Nolan's story went viral around the nation and prompted calls for Soderstrom's removal. She has refused to step down. Her trial before the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary is set to begin Feb. 12. The nine members will decide at the end of the trial whether to remove her from the bench.

The Oklahoman digs into secret investigation of white supremacist gang over burnt bodies, meth and a growing list of missing people

Nolan broke another important story with his look into a string of 12 disappearances that have come under investigation by a secret task force that has focused on the alleged leader of a violent white supremacist prison gang. The records Nolan obtained portray a chilling litany of violence in the rural outskirts of Oklahoma City that has largely been kept out of the spotlight even as the number of people missing and confirmed dead has grown. More recently, Nolan reported that one of the suspects in the case was found dead after being released from jail. The man, Jason Dean Cornett, had worried that he would be killed soon, his defense attorney said.

"He said ... they'd make it look like an accident," Michael Johnson told The Oklahoman. This disturbing story seems right out of a Netflix true-crime series. Stay tuned for more.

Most tribes provide vehicle and license plate data to Oklahoma despite Gov. Kevin Stitt's claim

The issue seemed to pop up out of nowhere in November, when an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer wrote an Otoe-Missouria tribal member a $249 ticket because her vehicle had a tribal tag and wasn’t garaged within the boundaries of the tribe’s jurisdictional area.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton had said for months the state doesn’t have access to tribal vehicle registration information. Both officials had repeatedly said the lack of data puts Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers at risk.

But records obtained by reporters M. Scott Carter and Molly Young showed that the vast majority of tribes that issue vehicle tags in Oklahoma — 26 out of 33 — provide vehicle registration data to the state.

The sudden flare-up was the latest in the widening rift between Stitt and the tribes that has lawmakers on both sides of the aisle increasingly concerned. Carter's and Young's reporting held a pair of powerful government officials accountable for what was a misrepresentation of the facts, intentional or not.

High school football hazing in the spotlight: What happened in Kingfisher and Ringling

The Oklahoman did lots of other impactful stories in 2023, including detailed looks into hazing in the Kingfisher and Ringling high school football programs. Nolan Clay's Kingfisher coverage included exclusive video of freshmen players fighting in the locker room while older players cheered them on in a ritual known as "The Ring." The Kingfisher school district recently settled a federal lawsuit over the hazing for $5 million, one month after head coach Jeff Myers was charged with child neglect and former coach Micah Nall was charged with child abuse.

And in the small town of Ringling, reporter Molly Young told the story of a town deeply divided over the hiring of a football coach who had a history of hazing allegations and the troubles that followed. That coach, Phil Koons, pleaded no contest Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of outraging public decency.

The Oklahoman takes pride in taking deep looks into issues of public importance and providing our readers with the context and influences shaping policy and impacting lives in our state. Expect more in 2024.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: The Oklahoman most influential stories: Tribes, white supremacy gang