On a summer night in July 2015, the quiet suburban life of the Bever family in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was horrifically shattered. Inside their home, April Bever, a 44-year-old mother, along with her husband David, became the victims of a brutal attack planned and carried out by two of their own sons. The night of July 22nd descended into unimaginable violence as the teenage sons, armed with knives, unleashed a deadly assault on their family members.
April, along with her husband and three of their other children, would not survive the night.
The chaos and horror of the evening were first revealed when a 911 call was made from the home. The dispatcher heard a brief and desperate plea for help before the line went dead. When police officers arrived at the Bever residence, they discovered a gruesome scene. Five members of the family, including April Bever, were found dead, having been stabbed multiple times. Two of the Bever daughters, though seriously injured, were found alive. The perpetrators, 18-year-old Robert Bever and 16-year-old Michael Bever, were apprehended shortly after the murders. They were found to have been planning a much larger killing spree, with aspirations of becoming infamous serial killers.
The investigation that followed painted a grim picture of the two brothers, who reportedly idolized serial killers and had been amassing weapons to carry out their deadly plans. The attack on their own family was intended to be just the beginning. In the aftermath, the surviving sisters began the long road to recovery from their physical and emotional wounds. Robert Bever, the older brother, pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His younger brother, Michael, was also found guilty and received multiple life sentences, though with the possibility of parole after a change in juvenile sentencing laws. The tragic death of April Bever, at the hands of her own children, left the community of Broken Arrow in shock and mourning, a chilling reminder of the darkness that can lie hidden within a seemingly ordinary family.
