Scott Eizember makes court appearance

SAPULPA, Okla. (AP) -- Five deputies kept watch Thursday as double murder suspect Scott Eizember appeared in court for the first time.<br><br>The daughter of a slain Depew couple also looked on as a Creek

Thursday, December 4th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SAPULPA, Okla. (AP) -- Five deputies kept watch Thursday as double murder suspect Scott Eizember appeared in court for the first time.

The daughter of a slain Depew couple also looked on as a Creek County judge ordered Eizember held without bond on two murder counts. Judge Richard Woolery also set a Dec. 9 arraignment date.

Marsha Beets, whose parents A.J. and Patsy Cantrell were killed Oct. 18, said she felt relief seeing Eizember shackled and under guard in the courtroom.

"I just feel relieved one part is over, and we're moving forward," she said.

The 42-year-old Eizember was returned to Oklahoma late Wednesday from Texas, where he had fled after eluding a massive manhunt for 37 days near Bristow.

Eizember told the judge that he could not afford an attorney. Woolery appointed him a public defender.

Eizember also faces counts of shooting with intent to kill and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. The judge set bond $50,000 on each of those two counts.

District Attorney Max Cook said Eizember led investigators late Wednesday to a shotgun allegedly used in the crimes.

The gun was found near a creek in a wooded area searched during the manhunt.

Court observers had to pass through a metal detector before entering the courtroom. Cook said such security is common in cases where emotions may be running high.

Beets said she felt less anxiety being in the same room with Eizember than she had expected.

"I see him more like some kind of animal or something," she said.

Authorities have said they believe Eizember killed the Cantrells so he could watch the home of his former girlfriend's mother, which is across the street. The woman he is accused of beating is the former girlfriend's mother and the teenager that was shot is her son.

Eizember also faces federal charges for the kidnapping of a physician and his wife in Arkansas on Nov. 23 and forcing them to drive him to Texas at gunpoint, authorities said.

Dr. Samuel Peebles shot Eizember several times and the fugitive fled in the couple's van. He was arrested a short time later and hospitalized for his wounds.

Peebles and his wife, Suzanne, stopped to give Eizember a ride after thinking he had car trouble. The car Eizember was in was allegedly stolen from a Depew woman who surprised him in the food pantry of a local church earlier that day.