The 1999 bloodbath allegedly started over 1-2 ounces of methamphetamine. “It sure wasn’t enough to kill someone over,” Ronnie Busick said in an interview from the Craig County jail.
“It's time for them to come home," Ronnie Busick said. The 68-year-old convict recently told an investigator about a new location to search in Kansas.
Ronnie Busick reportedly admitted to being at the Freeman home that night but said he had nothing to do with the shootings or kidnappings.
Lorene Bible is in Stage 4 liver failure and is on a transplant list, said Lisa Brodrick, Bible’s niece.
For the past two decades, investigators have searched mine shafts, dug up basements, wells, open fields and divers have searched ponds and Grand Lake.
For the past two decades, investigators have searched mine shafts, dug up basements, wells, open fields and divers have searched ponds and Grand Lake.
The only still-living suspect had been charged with murder, arson and kidnapping. In a plea agreement, Ronnie Busick, 68, is expected to provide information leading to the remains of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman.
Ronnie Busick waived a preliminary hearing Monday on charges of murder, arson and kidnapping in the deaths of Danny and Kathy Freeman, their daughter, Ashley and her friend Lauria Bible. An investigator said the District Attorney's Office may allow Busick to plead guilty to accessory to murder instead.
A candlelight vigil was held Monday, the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, both 16, from Freeman's home in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 1999. Freeman's parents, Danny and Kathy Freeman, were killed, and their mobile home was set on fire.
A jury was chosen Friday to decide whether Ronnie Busick is competent to stand trial in the slayings of Danny and Kathy Freemen and the kidnapping and presumed deaths of their daughter, Ashley, and her best friend, Lauria Bible.
A six-person jury will determine if Ronnie Dean Busick is competent to stand trial on multiple counts of murder, arson and kidnapping in the 20-year-old case.
The camera was lowered into the mine shaft in the Tar Creek area of northern Ottawa County.
Complete coverage: Missing Welch girls investigation
A timeline of the 1999 case of missing Welch girls Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible
Using a cane, Busick appeared Tuesday in Craig County District Court before Special Judge Jacqueline Stout in connection with the slayings of Danny and Kathy Freeman and the kidnapping and presumed deaths of their daughter, Ashley Freeman, and her friend, Lauria Bible.
"The results were negative,” Tammy Ferrari, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation special agent, said Wednesday at the conclusion of two days of searching the Picher area. “But it’s not going to stop our efforts in continuing to try and recover the girls.”
“You never know. It’s like a checklist you can check off and say, ‘You know, the girls aren’t there,’ and you go to the next place,” Lauria Bible's mother said of Tuesday’s search.
Related: A timeline of the 1999 case of missing Welch girls Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible
Ronnie Busick will have to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine his competency for trial after his IQ tested at 74.
Missing Welch girls investigation
Who are the three men accused in the case of the missing Welch girls? Hear from those who knew them
At least two of the three newly named suspects in the cold case deaths of two Welch teenagers in December 1999 have extensive criminal histories.
Ronnie Dean Busick, 66, is charged in Craig County District Court with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of arson.
Related article: Who are the suspects in the cold case murders of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman?
