Joel Otto Walker mugshot
(Stillwater, Okla.) – A Cushing man charged with stabbing two men at Beasley Technology and threatening to kill others was insane at the time of the crimes in 2016, a Payne County judge has ruled.
In an Oct. 9 order, Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler said that Joel Otto Walker, 54, is mentally ill and should be transported to the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita for an examination.
Walker, who has a history of hallucinations and delusions according to his court-appointed attorney Royce Hobbs, remains in the Payne County Jail pending being taken to the state hospital for the mentally ill, a sheriff’s spokesman told KUSH this afternoon.
The judge ordered that the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services have Walker “examined by two qualified psychiatrists or one such psychiatrist and one qualified clinical psychologist,” regarding whether Walker “is presently mentally ill and dangerous to the public peace and safety.”
The judge scheduled a status review of Walker, who must remain in the Vinita facility for at least 30 days, for 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 19, court records show.
Walker has been in custody on $250,000 bail for the past two years since his arrest, court records show.
At Beasley Technology where two men were stabbed on Oct. 3, 2016, Walker made anti-Semitic statements and threatened to kill employees at the business, a Cushing police officer alleged in an affidavit.
“After I placed cuffs onto him, he told me he was going to kill me too. I transported Joel (Walker) to the Cushing Police Department. He kept up the verbal barrage during the transport telling me he would find me off-duty and kill my family too,” Cushing Police Officer Shelby Sewell alleged in an affidavit.
“He stated he would take all my money in a lawsuit and I should be arrested. While booking him, he stated to officers that Beasley’s was part of a slander conspiracy against him and according to Oklahoma law, he could kill anyone who slandered him,” the affidavit alleged.
According to an affidavit, the Cushing officer was sent at 3:10 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2016, to Beasley Technology at 117 N. Harrison Avenue regarding a white man causing issues.
At Beasley’s the officer was told by the owner, “the man came in and was menacing his employees and (the owner) didn’t want him back at the premises.” The owner told the Cushing officer, “he could not recall any verbal threats but was physically intimidating and appeared very volatile,” the affidavit said.
When the Cushing officer saw the suspect in another Cushing business called Dangerous Motors, “I recognized the male to be Joel Walker from past police contacts. When I entered the store, Joel immediately started asking me if I had probable cause to be speaking with him and his lawyer Royce Hobbs.
“I asked if he could tell me what happened at Beasley’s. Walker was very hostile with me. Walker did tell me that he believed Beasley was a Jew and he went into the store to speak with the ‘Jew Jacob.’ He stated they were in part of a slander conspiracy against him and he wanted them to stop.
“After speaking with Joel (Walker) for a bit, he appeared to calm down. I asked him to go home and not return to Beasley’s and he agreed not to return,” the Cushing officer wrote in the affidavit.
But about 90 minutes later, Walker came back and kicked open the door at Beasley Technology where the altercation began and continued outside, the affidavit alleged.
Walker was spotted walking away at a high rate of speed and being followed by a man with blood on his head, the affidavit said.
“Officer Haywood arrived on scene and assisted me in escorting Joel to my patrol car and placing him in the car. Joel did make statements without prompting. He stated they were not going to stop and he had to stop them. He threatened to kill them and skin them,” the Cushing officer alleged in the affidavit.
At the Cushing hospital, the officer saw one victim who said that when he ran in and pulled Walker off the owner, “Joel turned towards him and slashed at his face…He stated he did recall that Joel (Walker) was screaming they were all going to die,” the affidavit alleged. That victim had one cut running across his face and mouth that took 14 stitches and another wound on his other cheek that took one stitch, the affidavit said.
Another male victim was cut twice on the chest and once on the back, the affidavit said.
An employee of Beasley Technology said that at about 3 p.m. “the business had a package delivered which was brown and red – he said the man entered and accused the employees of stealing his pizza,” the affidavit said. He said the man said, “I hope you signed for your paycheck because I got your a….” the affidavit alleged.
He said “the man was screaming incoherent things and began to walk away after he heard (another employee) had been stabbed,” the affidavit alleged.
Cushing Police Officer Rachel Hentges “photographed the scene and collected pieces of a broken straight razor and its handle while she processed the scene,” the affidavit said.
Video of the incident “clearly showed the suspect with the straight razor weapon in his hand. It also clearly captured the suspect say he was going to kill the employees of Beasley’s Technology and the ‘f…… Jew,’” the affidavit alleged.
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