Man Confesses To Double Homicide

Sunday, June 24th 2007, 3:45 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa Police say the man they arrested for Saturdayâ€™s double homicide has confessed. What the News On 6 about the confession may disturb you. It started out as a routine house fire call. News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports firefighters rushed to a Tulsa home Saturday and walked right into a crime scene.

â€œWhen they arrived they saw smoke coming from the house,â€ said Tulsa Police Captain Steve Odom. â€œThere was a large amount of blood in various places. At that point, they believed this was not just a simple fire fatality.

Inside the home were 24-year-old Brooke Whitaker and her baby. The 7-month-old was dead. Her mother later died at the hospital.

Police say they learned that 33-year-old Raymond Eugene Johnson had a volatile relationship with the young mother. Hours after the deaths, a tip led police to Catoosa where they arrested Johnson.

The tipster said the suspect called and asked for a ride near the victimâ€™s home in the 6934 block of east Newton Street.

Police say that witness said Johnson had blood on his clothes, things he later threw away at a dumpster in the 1000 block of north Sheridan Avenue.

Police say that's exactly where they later recovered the clothes and a hammer.

Then came an even bigger break. According to his arrest and booking report, Johnson not only admitted to the killings, but he told police how he did them.

He said he waited near the Whitaker's house until she arrived at 4 a.m. He went inside. They argued, and he hit her several times in the head with a hammer.

The report also states he then went to a tool shed in the victim's backyard and got a container filled with gasoline. He went back inside the house, doused the young mother with gasoline, and did the same thing to the living room and the room where the victim's 7-month-old daughter was sleeping.

Johnson told police he lit a towel on fire and placed it on the victim, lighting her on fire. She got up, started screaming and running.

After that, he says he left through the back of the house.

According to that same report, no attorney was present when Johnson made his statement. Police say Johnson waived that right.

He is currently in jail, arrested for two counts of first-degree murder.