An Oklahoma woman originally charged with first-degree murder in the 1992 deaths of two women and a girl whose bodies were found in a septic pit pleaded no contest Tuesday to reduced charges. Beverly Noe, 67, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after entering the plea to being an accessory to first-degree murder in the deaths that prosecutors said stemmed from a custody dispute over Noe's grandson. Noe covered her face with her handcuffed hands as she was taken into custody at Creek County District Court in Bristow. Her attorney left without comment.
Prosecutor Max Cook said the age of the case and issues with witness availability were factors in the decision to offer the plea deal, which he called the best resolution for the victims' families. Noe was tied to the murders of her former daughter-in-law 23-year-old Wendy Camp; Camp's 6-year-old daughter, Cynthia Britto; and Camp's sister-in-law, 22-year-old Lisa Kregear.
District Attorney Richard Smothermon declined to discuss the case. 'I can't comment on plea negotiations,' he said Monday. Noe's attorney did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
Camp had been married to Noe's son, Chad Noe, and they had a son together. She, her daughter and sister-in-law had traveled from her home in Oklahoma City on May 29, 1992, to visit the boy named Jonathon, who was staying with his father in Shamrock. Investigators allege that Noe, 67, of the central Oklahoma town of Bristow, killed Camp because she feared Camp would take her young grandson away from her. Noe wanted custody of Jonathon, according to the probable cause affidavit.
'Beverly had always wanted, and tried to get, custody of Jonathon,' special agent Marty Wilson of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation wrote in the affidavit.
According to Tulsa World, Beverly Noe and her son believed Jonathon's new step-dad was molesting him.
Beverly Noe would tell investigators after her arrest that Camp's daughter Cynthia Britto had to die because she, too, had been molested and was 'damaged goods.After the three disappeared, Beverly Noe acknowledged being the last person to see them alive. She told investigators she dropped them off at a Wal-Mart in Chandler after getting into a fight with Camp. The bodies were found in 2013 after Noe's brother, Grover Prewitt Jr. directed authorities to the property that he and his mother Ida Prewitt owned at the time. Prewitt told investigators he had dug the hole for a septic tank after his mother, Ida Prewitt, bought five of his 40 acres and moved a trailer onto the property. He said his mother then suddenly told him to fill the hole.
'Grover asked her why, to which Ida responded, 'Because there's a couple of dead bodies in there',' the special agent, wrote. Grover Prewitt said he didn't ask questions and with a backhoe operator closed the hole. According to an affidavit, Prewitt's mother asked him to sprinkle the ground with pepper to cover up any odor. Ida Prewitt died in 2011. Besides leading authorities to the hole, Mr. Prewitt also gave them a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, which family members called 'Baby,' according to the affidavit.
Autopsies showed Camp and her sister-in-law were shot. Camp also was stabbed. The 6-year-old girl died of 'unspecified means.' Investigators say Grover Prewitt talked to his sister, Beverly Noe, about giving authorities the shotgun and his .357-caliber revolver. He was wearing a wire at the time.
Beverly Noe previously told The Associated Press she didn't know how the three could have been found on the property 21 years after their disappearance. 'I figure somebody picked them up, but I don't have a clue who,' Noe said then. 'I don't know how they got back to his property. I would wonder how they got there. I really don't know how they got there. It is odd. I'd agree to that.' Grover Prewitt is charged as an accessory and has pleaded not guilty in the case.
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