Crimestoppers Tip Leads To Arrest Of Tulsa Homicide Suspect

Thursday, January 25th 2007, 8:35 am

By: News On 6

An accused murderer is in the Tulsa County jail after a picture of the suspect aired Wednesday on the News on 6 and KOTV.com. Tulsa Police arrested 41-year-old Kyle Eckardt in connection with the killing of a woman found in her Tulsa apartment.

News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin says Eckardt is facing charges of first degree murder and rape by instrumentation.

Police say witnesses saw him beating the victim outside her apartment Monday night. They say it was due to a Crimestoppers tip that they were able to arrest him the next day. Police say the victim, 40-year old Terry Welch, and her accused killer met only moments before a surveillance video was taken.

They say the suspect, Kyle Eckardt, saw Welch walking and offered her a ride. The two went to a west Tulsa liquor store, bought some Vodka and went back to Welch's apartment where she lived with her 6-year-old son.

Police believe the boy was there when, according to witnesses, Eckardt severely beat the victim in front of her apartment, then dragged her inside. Her body was found naked in the bathtub almost 24 hours later.

Armed with a description and a picture of their then unknown suspect, Tulsa Police officer Scott Walton says they sought the public's help. "Immediately after the first showing of that we started to receive calls by way of the Crimestoppers hotline."

Less than an hour after Eckardt's picture was broadcast and put on the Internet; police arrested him at his downtown Tulsa apartment. Detectives later returned with a search warrant, but say they can't reveal what they found.

Officer Scott Walton gave much credit for the quick arrest to their improvement of the Crimestoppers system with a new call center. â€œAllows us to utilize multiple calls at a time because certainly the caller that's sitting in their home watching the news is going to call right then."

While pleased with having a suspect behind bars, police are concerned for the future of the victim's son. "We have a young boy without a mother as a result of this."

Investigators say Welch's body suffered severe trauma and that she may have been smothered or drowned in the bathtub, although the cause of death is still undetermined. Eckhardt has a history of arrest including drug possession and assault and battery.