Tulsa Police Investigating Four Homicides In 24 Hours

A deadly start to 2007 in Tulsa. In the past 24 hours, the city has seen 4 homicides, bringing the total for the year to 8. <br/><br/>There was Tuesday's murder-suicide near 2nd and Indianapolis.

Wednesday, January 24th 2007, 9:39 am

By: News On 6

A deadly start to 2007 in Tulsa. In the past 24 hours, the city has seen 4 homicides, bringing the total for the year to 8.

There was Tuesday's murder-suicide near 2nd and Indianapolis. Also on Tuesday and Wednesday, two men were shot to death. The Tuesday night fatal shooting happened in the 1100 block of East Haskell. The second, was Wednesday morning in the 1500 block of East Independence Street. And Tuesday night, a woman was found dead in her apartment in the 6100 block of West 11th Street.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg talked with Tulsa Police, who had a very busy night. As you well know, this pushes their resources to the limit. For everyone's sake, they're hoping things quiet down.

All across town, they strung crime scene tape and according to Tulsa Police officer Jason Willingham, officers are stretched thin. "I was talking to one of the crime scene detectives this morning on one of the homicides, and he said he put in 7 hours overtime in overnight. That was after his 10 hour shift yesterday, and then he's back out this morning."

Two of the cases might be connected, simply by virtue of their location on Haskell and Independence. 30-year-old Christopher Moderow and 26-year-old David Gilbert both shot in the head just hours apart. He says, "Due to the close proximity of the crimes and the time frame in between when we discovered both bodies, yeah they're obviously going to be looking at the scenarios and seeing what way they're intertwined and related."

Meanwhile in west Tulsa, police are looking for a person of interest, who was seen in a liquor store video with 40-year-old Terry Welch who was later found dead inside her apartment. He's described as 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, with deep voice.

He was driving a white 1980's model Suburban with a red stripe according to Tulsa Police Sgt. Mike Huff. "He's a person of interest. And you can see a picture of and the man. So we're wanting people to call us if they know where that man is, if they know where that vehicle is."

This year has started much the same way as 2006, when Tulsa had a rash of homicides in the first month of the year. Although thankfully, last year, the rate dropped sharply, and the city ended the year below average. "And hopefully we can do the same this year, because I mean right now, we're on quite a pace,â€ officer Jason Willingham said.

If you have any information that can help police, call Crimestoppers at 596-COPS. You can remain anonymous.