Bio

Richard Dennis Oxford was born on September 12, 1956. He grew up in Oklahoma. In 1975, Richard was convicted of first-degree burglary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This was his first major offense. In 1976, he pleaded guilty to attempted larceny of an automobile. 

By 1983, he faced serious charges. Richard pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree rape and four counts of forcible sodomy. He also faced charges for assault and multiple burglaries. The court sentenced him to serve a lengthy time in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

On November 11, 1986, Richard escaped from the Conner Correctional Center in Hominy, Oklahoma. He was with a cellmate named Richard Brown. After their escape, they traveled to Joplin, Missouri. Just three days later, they were seen with a married couple named Harold and Melba Wampler.

Murder Story

On November 11, 1986, Richard Dennis Oxford and his cellmate, Richard Brown, escaped from the Conner Correctional Center in Oklahoma. Three days later, on November 14, they were seen leaving the Paint Stallion tavern in Joplin, Missouri, with a local couple, Harold and Melba Wampler.

The Wamplers went missing, and on January 2, 1987, the Missouri Highway Patrol received a tip about their car, which was spotted at a hotel parking lot in Kansas City. Authorities found the Wamplers' bodies wrapped in a blanket in the trunk of their vehicle. The autopsy revealed that both had died from gunshot wounds to the head. Their hands and feet were bound, and duct tape covered their mouths. The investigation suggested that they had been dead for about six weeks.

Richard Oxford was arrested on December 22, 1986, in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the arrest, police discovered a wristwatch that belonged to Harold Wampler. Later, investigators found Oxford's fingerprints on items in the Wamplers' car, and his hair was found on the blanket containing their bodies. While in Nevada awaiting extradition back to Missouri, Oxford confessed to killing the Wamplers to a fellow inmate. This inmate later testified against him in court.

Oxford was charged with first-degree murder and eventually convicted. He was sentenced to death for his crimes and was executed by lethal injection in Missouri on August 21, 1996.