Cushing Man Charged In Triple Homicide

Payne County prosecutors have filed three counts of first-degree murder against a man who allegedly shot three people to death in Cushing.

Thursday, February 19th 2009, 8:03 am

By: News On 6

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Payne County prosecutors have filed three counts of first-degree murder against a man who allegedly shot three people to death in Cushing.

The charges were read during an initial court appearance Wednesday for 20-year-old Robert Chad Lansford-Barela. Barela remained in custody without bond.

District Attorney Rob Hudson says investigators believe a handgun recovered from a retention pond in Stillwater was used in the killings.

Hudson didn't release the victims' names, but an affidavit filed in the case listed them as 21-year-old Albert Cernas; 19-year-old Elizabeth Hueser and 27-year-old Douglass Mason Peck.

According to the affidavit, two police officers performing a welfare check about 5:20 a.m. Tuesday found the bodies at Peck's house.

An Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent says in the affidavit that Barela admitted shooting the victims