(Stillwater) — A preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin Monday for a Cushing man who has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of two men and a woman at a Cushing residence on East Moses Street.
District Attorney Rob Hudson has said that he will seek the death penalty for Robert Chad Lansford-Barela, 21, who has been jailed without bail since his arrest the day the bodies were found, court records show. Barela previously was employed by an oil well service in Drumright, court records show.
The victims, Douglass Mason Peck, 27; Albert Sernas, 21, who was Barela’s cousin; and Elizabeth Michelle Hueser, 19, all of Cushing, were found shot to death in Peck’s residence at 814 E. Moses Street about 5:20 a.m. Feb. 17 by Cushing police doing a welfare check, court records show.
Barela, who was arrested about two hours later in Stillwater, allegedly confessed to the shootings, during an interview that day with Cushing Police Sgt. Mark Jobe and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Agent Kevin Garrett, according to an OSBI affidavit.
Barela had left a vehicle, which reportedly was owned by one of the victims, at a Stillwater Wal-Mart and started walking into town, authorities said. He was arrested about two miles from the store near Sixth and Western Streets, authorities said.
The following day, OSBI agents found a 45-caliber pistol, believed to be the murder weapon, in a retention pond north of Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater, authorities said.
The motive for the slayings has not been disclosed, but police have said that there had been two recent methamphetamine laboratory busts in the same block where the slayings occurred.
“My husband was killed by Chad Barela,” Peck’s widow, Stephanie Peck, wrote in a victim impact statement filed in court records.
“I last saw him (her husband) at Thanksgiving. We were discussing moving to another town and starting over. I never got to say goodbye.
“He and I were together for 12 years, since we were 15 years old. Even the time we were apart, we talked every single day.
“He was killed right after our 9 year wedding anniversary.
“Chad called me right after he killed the three at my home. I feel scared all the time because of this,” Peck’s widow wrote.
“My husband loved everyone. He gave out of his pocket to anyone in need. Everyone liked him. His laugh was contagious.
“For a while, he and I were youth pastors together.
“He wanted to help Chad. He had the same heart for Chad as our youth group teens.
“He saw potential in Chad. Doug never hurt anyone.
“His goal was to see everyone he knew rise above their circumstances and be something amazing,” Peck’s widow wrote.
She wrote that Barela should be given life in prison without parole.
“How could Doug’s kids sleep at night if their daddy’s killer were free?” she wrote.
The mother of Sernas wrote in her victim impact statement that she thought Barela should receive a death sentence.
“Not only did he take away my only son from me, he also took other lives,” Rhonda J. Sernas wrote.
“The loss of my only son, Albert Sernas, has affected this family in many ways.
“Chad Barela was one of Albert’s cousins. He is my stepsister’s son,” she wrote.
“My son was a very caring person. Most people would describe him as a big soft teddy bear,” Sernas’ mother wrote.
Hueser’s mother, Chanda L. Chance Shelburn, wrote in her victim impact statement, “My husband and I believe he should get the death penalty because he brutally murdered our daughter and made her witness the murders of two of her best friends.”
“Elizabeth not only died, but she was brutally murdered by the hands of someone we all knew.
“We feel violated, consumed with fear, fear not only for ourselves, but every child out there. This was unexpected, and never did we think we would be here.
“This murder of Elizabeth should be used to get Cushing to realize we have a serious situation.
“Elizabeth, I know in heart, did not do or involve herself with the situation that caused her death.
“Elizabeth was loved by everyone who ever knew or just met her.
“We had 82 young adults at her funeral, a mile and one-half procession to the gravesite.
“I can’t sleep for I can only see the fear in my daughter’s eyes as she watched two of her very good friends blown away.
“My heart breaks for all who have been affected by the decision Chad made,” Hueser’s mother wrote.
