In the spring of 1984, Janet Dee Jewell was a 32-year-old woman from Beggs, Oklahoma, filled with plans for the future. A divorced mother of three, Janet was described as a pretty, energetic woman who was looking forward to marrying her fiancé in August. To support her family and build her new life, she drove to Tulsa on May 23, 1984, to look for a job, leaving her children in the care of her boyfriend at his apartment.
That hopeful day would tragically be her last.
While in Tulsa, Janet’s Dodge Dart ran out of gas. As she was looking under the hood, a man approached and offered to help. The stranger was Gary Alan Walker, a 30-year-old parolee who was in the midst of a violent crime spree. Unaware of the danger, Janet engaged in a friendly conversation, telling him her name and that she was in town job hunting. After Walker returned with gasoline and got the car started, he slid into the driver's seat, pulled out a long-bladed knife, and kidnapped her in broad daylight.
Walker forced Janet to drive, stopping at a convenience store where she had to use her little remaining money to buy snacks and drinks. He then took her to a private, secluded area near Slick, Oklahoma, where he bound her and repeatedly assaulted her. According to Walker’s later confession, Janet pleaded for her life, telling him, "I'll do whatever you want -- only don't kill me for the sake of my three children." Her pleas were ignored. Walker strangled her with a cord, ending her life. He then drove her body to a dirt road near a small creek in Okmulgee County, about 1.8 miles east of her hometown of Beggs, and threw her into the water.
For days, Janet’s disappearance was a mystery. Her abandoned car was found at a local shopping mall, and law enforcement feared the worst. The break in the case came on June 2, 1984, when police in Tulsa arrested Gary Alan Walker. Known as "The Roaming Rapist," Walker was quickly linked to a string of violent crimes that had terrorized eastern Oklahoma for 19 days in May, including four other murders, rapes, and kidnappings. During questioning, Walker’s braggadocio led him to confess to his crimes, and he agreed to lead investigators to the locations of his victims' bodies. He took them to the creek near Beggs, where the skeletal remains of Janet Dee Jewell were recovered.
Gary Alan Walker was ultimately convicted of five counts of first-degree murder, among approximately 35 other felonies. For the murder of Janet Jewell, he received a sentence of life in prison. He was also sentenced to death for the May 7, 1984, murder of 63-year-old Eddie Cash of Broken Arrow. Walker’s other victims were Margaret Bell Lydick, 37; Jayne Hilburn, 35; and 25-year-old Tulsa radio reporter Valerie Shaw-Hartzell. He was connected to these killings through confessions and evidence left behind during his spree.
After years of appeals, Walker’s execution date was set. On January 13, 2000, Gary Alan Walker, aged 46, was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Approximately 30 relatives of his five victims, including members of Janet Jewell’s family, witnessed the execution, either in the viewing room or via closed-circuit television. After more than 15 years, the man who had brought so much pain and grief to so many families had finally paid the ultimate price for his horrific crimes.
