Lorenz-Sirloin Stockade murders

Did You Know?

• Roger Stafford was armed with a Colt Trooper .357 Magnum during the crimes.
• Harold Stafford used a Taurus Model 82 .38 caliber revolver stolen from a pawn shop in Purcell.
• Verna Stafford equipped herself with a .22-caliber Luger pistol stolen from a family outside of Purcell.

Crimes

On June 22, 1978, Roger Stafford, along with his wife Verna and brother Harold, stopped a family on Interstate 35 near Purcell, Oklahoma. Verna waved down the car of Melvin Lorenz, his wife Linda, and their 12-year-old son Richard, who were heading to North Dakota for a funeral. After the family pulled over, Stafford robbed them and shot all three to death. Three weeks later, on July 16, Stafford robbed a Sirloin Stockade in Oklahoma City and killed six employees: David Lindsey, 17; David Salsman, 16; Anthony Tew, 17; Terri Horst, 15; Louis Zacarias, 43; and Isaac Freeman, 56. All were shot.

Capture and trial

Harold Stafford died in a Tulsa motorcycle accident six days after the Sirloin Stockade robbery. Police followed a woman who had viewed his body at a funeral home back to Chicago, where they arrested Verna Stafford and soon captured Roger Stafford. On October 17, 1979, Roger was found guilty of all nine murders and received a death sentence. Verna was convicted of second degree murder for the deaths of Linda Lorenz and Terri Horst, earning two life sentences. She testified against her husband and divorced him while he remained on death row; Roger married two more times before his execution.

Execution

On July 1, 1995, Oklahoma executed Stafford by lethal injection. Within two weeks, Assistant Attorney General Sandy Howard received a $5 Sirloin Stockade gift certificate. Its back bore a handwritten note, signed "Roger Dale Stafford 103767," claiming innocence and accusing Howard of complicity. Investigators traced the certificate to an El Reno Sirloin Stockade and found it was mailed from McAlester on July 3, two days after the execution.