In the quiet suburban landscape of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a horrific story unfolded on the night of July 22, 2015, forever marking the community. Inside their home, 52-year-old David Bever, a male, met a violent and untimely death alongside his wife and three of their children. The night was shattered by a brutal attack that would later be described as one of the most heinous crimes in the city's history.
The tranquility of their neighborhood was irrevocably broken by the events that transpired within the walls of the Bever family residence.
The perpetrators of this familicide were not strangers who broke in under the cover of darkness, but two of the family's own sons, Robert and Michael Bever. At the time of the incident, Robert was 18 years old, and his younger brother Michael was 16. Armed with knives, the two brothers systematically and ruthlessly attacked their own family members. The assault resulted in the deaths of their father, David, their 44-year-old mother, April, and three of their younger siblings: 12-year-old Daniel, 7-year-old Christopher, and 5-year-old Victoria.
The grim discovery was made after a 911 call, believed to have been made by one of the young sons before he was killed. When police arrived at the scene, they found a gruesome sight. One of the daughters, a 13-year-old, was found alive but critically injured with multiple stab wounds. It was her courageous identification of her brothers as the assailants that immediately directed law enforcement's search. Another younger sister, only 2 years old at the time, was thankfully unharmed. Following the attack, Robert and Michael fled into a nearby wooded area. A police dog was used to track them, and they were apprehended without further incident.
The motive behind the massacre, as it was later revealed, was a chilling desire for fame and notoriety. The brothers had aspirations of becoming infamous serial killers. Their plan was not to stop with their family; they intended to continue their killing spree across the country. Robert Bever, the older brother, pleaded guilty in 2016 to five counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault with intent to kill. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Michael Bever, who was tried as an adult, was found guilty in 2018 and also received multiple life sentences. The two surviving sisters were placed in state custody and have since been adopted. The Bever home, the site of the horrific crime, was later demolished.
