Randolph Dial

Case identification

Randolph Dial

STATUS / legal outcome

Randolph Dial was sentenced to life in prison on August 22, 1986. He escaped from prison in Granite, Oklahoma, on August 30, 1994. He was taken into custody in Texas on April 4, 2005. Randolph Dial died in prison on June 13, 2007.

Timeline

• September 16, 1981 — Kelly Dean Hogan, a Tulsa karate instructor from Broken Arrow, was killed.
• May 1, 1986 — Randolph Franklin Dial surrendered to Ls Vegas police and confessed to Hogan's killing.
• August 11, 1986 — Dial pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
• August 22, 1986 — Dial was sentenced to life in prison.
• August 30, 1994 — Dial escaped from prison with Bobbi Parker, the deputy warden's wife.
• April 4, 2005 — Dial was taken into custody in Texas.
• April 5, 2005 — Dial and Bobbi Parker were found living together and raising chickens in Texas; Parker was reunited with her husband.
• June 13, 2007 — Dial died in prison after complications involving lung cancer.
• June 14, 2007 — Dial died after illness.
• April 4, 2008 — Bobbi Parker was charged with helping Dial escape.

Background

Randolph Franklin Dial was born on September 26, 1944 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He died on June 13, 2007 at the maximum-security penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, from complications involving lung cancer.

Dial was an artist, sculptor and painter with a master's degree in art. He obtained trusty status at the Oklahoma State Reformatory, which allowed him to stay in minimum-security housing outside the prison walls. He ran an inmate pottery program with Bobbi Parker and used a kiln in the Parkers' garage. Dial had full access to their home during the day while he was in trusty status.

Dial had a heart problem and was described as sickly by Oklahoma State Penitentiary officials.

The offence

Dial was convicted in Tulsa County Case CRF-1986-1657 of First Degree Murder. He was convicted for the 1981 murder of Kelly Dean Hogan, a Tulsa karate instructor from Broken Arrow.

Dial later confessed to the Hogan killing. He claimed it was a contract killing and that he was hired by the mob. Dial portrayed himself as having Mafia connections and told others he was a hit man.

In connection with the 1981 murder of Kelly Dean Hogan, Dial was described as an accomplished artist and sculptor, a convicted murderer, and a presumed kidnapper of the wife of the assistant warden of the prison from which he escaped in 1994.

Kidnapping and the escape

On August 30, 1994, Dial escaped from the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite, Oklahoma. He escaped taking with him Bobbi Parker, the wife of a deputy warden. During the escape, Dial abducted the deputy warden's wife, Bobbi Parker, and used her van in the escape. The van was discovered two days later in Wichita Falls, Texas.

After the escape, Parker's family received phone calls saying she would be home soon. Dial lived as a fugitive for more than 10 years with the warden's wife.

Dial stated in a jailhouse interview that he took Parker at knifepoint when he escaped. He said:

"I was a hostage-taker and will probably live to regret it," he said. "But now I don't. Doing a life sentence, at my age, I wouldn't trade it for the past 10 1/2 years."

Dial also stated that their relationship was never romantic and that they lived in separate rooms. He likened Parker's relationship to him as "Stockholm Syndrome." Dial said:

"She was living under the impression if she ever tried to get away, I would get away and I would make her regret it, particularly toward her family," Dial said. "I didn't mean it, but she didn't know that."

When explaining the calls and Parker's alleged captivity, Parker told authorities she was held against her will based upon threats against her family. Greer County District Attorney John Wampler ordered an investigation and said kidnapping charges against Mr. Dial would be appropriate, while he would not know whether there was reason to charge Ms. Parker until the investigation was complete.

Investigation and arrest

A tip generated by the TV show "America's Most Wanted" led authorities to Dial and Parker. Police said a tipster saw Dial's face on AMW.COM and knew he was working on a chicken farm.

Law enforcement entered a mobile home in Campti, Texas, based on the tip. Dial was taken into custody without incident. A loaded pistol was found on top of a nearby table. Parker was located a few minutes later while working at a chicken ranch, and she was found nearby unharmed.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Salvador Hernandez announced the arrest of Randolph Franklin Dial and the safe recovery of Bobbi Parker. He stated that based on a tip received from a viewer of America's Most Wanted by the Orange County Texas District Attorney's Office, it was determined that Randolph Franklin Dial and Bobbi Parker may have been living in a residence approximately 10 miles east of Center, Texas, in the community of Camp Ti, in Shelby County. He stated that at approximately 6:25 p.m. that day, Texas Rangers, investigators from the Orange County District Attorney's Office, the Shelby County Sheriff and deputies, and FBI agents entered the trailer believed occupied by Dial and Parker. He stated that upon entry, Dial was immediately taken into custody without incident, and that a loaded pistol was found on top of a nearby table. He stated that Parker was located a few minutes later while working at a chicken ranch, and that early indications were that Parker was kidnapped and held against her will by Dial. He stated that Dial was in custody at the Shelby County Jail.

After their discovery, the FBI continued to question Bobbi Parker in Texas.

Charles W. Sasser, a writer and former Tulsa homicide detective, said Dial called him by telephone in 2001. Sasser said he spoke with Bobbi Parker and heard nothing from either one to indicate Parker was held against her will. Sasser said:

"I don't believe it," he said. "I spoke to her and told her to call her children."

Sasser notified the FBI, but FBI agents were unable to determine where the Dial call came from.

Trial and sentencing (Dial)

Dial pleaded guilty to murder on August 11, 1986 and was sentenced to life in prison. Dial was convicted in Tulsa County Case CRF-1986-1657 of First Degree Murder and received a life term.

Sentence for prison escape (Dial)

Dial was sentenced on February 2, 2007 to seven years for his escape from prison. The time was added on top of his previous life sentence for murder.

Custody, death, and incarceration details

Dial was held in custody at the Shelby County Jail after his April 4, 2005 arrest. After his capture, Dial was back in Oklahoma and held in the maximum-security penitentiary in McAlester. Dial was housed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester.

Dial died in prison on June 13, 2007 from complications involving lung cancer.

Bobbi Parker and related proceedings

Bobbi Parker was born in 197? in the material as “46” and also as “42” at different points. At the time of the continuance in 2009, Parker was described as 46. When she was reunited in 2005, Parker was described as 42.

Parker was reunited with her husband. Parker was reunited with Randy Parker, who was described as the warden of the William S. Key Correctional Center in Fort Supply after the reunion.

Parker was charged with helping Dial escape on April 4, 2008, exactly three years after authorities found Dial and Parker living together on an east Texas chicken farm. In February (year not otherwise stated in the material), Parker pleaded not guilty to the charge.

On February 4, 2009, District Judge Richard Darby granted Parker a continuance in her long-awaited trial to determine whether she aided Dial in his 1994 escape from the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite. The trial was pushed to Greer County’s October docket. Parker’s attorney Garvin Isaacs took charge of Parker’s case on Dec. 3 when defense attorney Rick Cunningham of Alva voluntarily stepped aside and requested more time.

Isaacs said:

“I did not have an adequate amount of time to review the evidence and interview witnesses,” Isaacs said. “For example, there is a six-hour tape of an interview with Bobbi (by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation) that was inaudible. The state claims it has enhanced the sound on that tape, and just today provided me with a DVD copy.”

Isaacs previously requested a continuance and detailed 77 different points of contention regarding the evidence. Assistant District Attorney Eric Yarborough disputed the motion and claimed Parker’s defense had more than enough time to prepare for trial. Isaacs said he was disturbed that 15 strands of hair found in the getaway van had not been tested for DNA. The hair was reportedly discovered by Wichita Falls police on a brown strip of tape inside Dial’s abandoned van. Isaacs said:

“They won’t do mitochondrial testing on the hair,” Isaacs claimed. “I don’t know why. If OSBI agent Robert Williams’ brother had been kidnapped by Dial, I guarantee he would want that hair tested. Something’s not right with that picture.”

In connection with whether Parker was kidnapped, the FBI closed their case against Bobbi Parker and ruled that she had been kidnapped and wasn't involved in helping Dial escape from prison.

People, relationships, and family

Victim

• Kelly Dean Hogan — a Tulsa karate instructor from Broken Arrow; killed on September 16, 1981.

Dial’s marriages and children

• Christina Dial — lived in Mexico City; they had one son, Alexis Franklin Osborn, born in 1978. They divorced in late 1978. In 1998, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Alexis Osborn was charged in connection with his live-in girlfriend's death.
• Mary Katherine Dial (Katherine) — married and divorced; married in 1979 and divorced in 1983; they had one daughter, Rose. Katherine lived in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She was killed while Randolph Dial was in prison.
• Robin Dial — married in 1983 and divorced in 1986; they had one son, Perry. Robin lived in Emporia, Kansas and in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Parker’s family

Parker had a husband Randy Parker and two daughters, who were 8 and 10 at the time of the disappearance. Parker’s sister was Tanya Joy Parker. Parker’s mother received phone calls from Parker.

Phone calls included Parker saying:

"I can't talk now," she said, crying. "I'm OK. Tell the kids I'll see them soon."

A day later, Parker made a second call from Fort Worth to a friend and said:

"Tell the kids I love them and I'll be home soon," she said.

Other details and setting

Dial lived in a two-bedroom trailer in the woods in Campti and rarely ventured off the property. Dial sent Parker on errands to nearby Center, including to a grocery store across the street from the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. Chief Deputy Kent Shaffer said:

"We're looking across the highway at the store," Chief Deputy Kent Shaffer said. "She could have driven in here instead. We sure would have helped her out, I guarantee you."

Residents of Campti described Dial and Parker as keeping to themselves. They avoided personal conversations and avoided going to Center. The trailer was secluded near a red dirt road and on a wooded lot across from five long metal chicken houses.

Residents said Dial would almost always come out with a gun when cars pulled near the trailer, demanding to know who was approaching and what they wanted. Coworkers said Dial was fired from the chicken farm and that he pressured Bobbi Parker to take on extra hours to make up the difference. Neighbors said Parker explained when asked why Dial wasn't working that his ailing health was the reason.

A resident, Renae Almaguer, said she once worked at a convenience store where the couple shopped for beer, cigarettes, gas and quick groceries, and she said she told co-workers “something ain't right with them people.”

Almaguer said Parker regularly came into the store by herself to cash Dial's payroll check and that clerks sometimes told her the bank would cash it for her, but Parker would say she was too busy or didn't want to make the two-mile drive. Almaguer said when Parker went to town to shop at the main grocery store, she wore a straw gardener's hat pulled tightly to her head with a scarf and a baggy dress, and people would laugh as if she was in disguise.

A friend got a call from Parker a day after the night her family received a call from Parker. Dial and Parker were found living under assumed names.

A federal arrest warrant was issued out of the Western District of Oklahoma for Dial on September 1, 1994, for Violation of Title 18, USC, Section 1073, Unlawful Flight to Avoid Confinement.

Dial’s case had been featured on America's Most Wanted, Unsolved Mysteries and A Current Affair.

Randolph Dial’s disappearance and escape had been the basis for a true-crime book titled "At Large."

Charges, custody status, and outcomes (Parker)

Parker’s status after Dial’s arrest involved being investigated for escape-related aid. The FBI closed their case against Bobbi Parker and ruled that she had been kidnapped and wasn't involved in helping Dial escape from prison. Parker was later charged with helping Dial escape on April 4, 2008 and pleaded not guilty to the charge. Her trial was delayed with a continuance granted by Judge Richard Darby on February 4, 2009.