Snapped: Women Who Murder - Beverly McColm

Episode Date: February 12, 2023

After police discover a philanthropic entrepreneur shot dead in his home, a surprise visit from a stranger attending his funeral takes detectives down an unexpected path to reveal a sweet yet... deceptive killer.Season 26, Episode 02Originally aired: September 8, 2019Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Mike Williams set off on a hunting trip in a North Florida lake, where it was thought he met his fate in the jaws of a vicious alligator, except that's not what happened. And after the uncovering of a secret love affair, the truth would finally be revealed. Binge all episodes of Over My Dead Body Gone Hunting right now, add free on One Drey Plus. In this country, some truths aren't self-evident.
Starting point is 00:00:24 In NPR's Black Stories Black Truths, a collection of stories as wide-ranging and real as the people who tell them, we celebrate the black experience for all its soul and richness. Search NPR Black Stories Black Truths wherever you get podcasts. He was a swath business man full of big ideas. He was a willer and dealer. He was always going somewhere, doing some meetings with people, doing something. To her, he was a visionary with a big heart. He was very passionate about the second chance home for women.
Starting point is 00:01:03 I can see how she would be drawn to someone like that. But a shocking discovery brings everyone's dreams to an end. Look down and it was a spot of blood also. It appeared that he had been deceased for at least 12 plus hours. The truth behind this heinous crime will expose a ruthless killer hiding in plain sight. They was working on some kind of financial deal. He had asked her for money.
Starting point is 00:01:36 There was no other exit. It's almost like running into the trap. The devil doesn't always look like the devil. MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC The quaint streets of Guthrie, Oklahoma, provide a glimpse into the past. A hundred years ago, when you come to Guthrie, it's exactly what it looks like today.
Starting point is 00:02:09 It's a place where people come for bed and breakfasts, for entertainment. It's a wonderful, small community. Guthrie is like a mebarianny, griffin' little town. The crime is just like a big city crime. It's just in a lot smaller numbers. The piece of laid back Guthrie is shaken on Saturday, December 10, 2011,
Starting point is 00:02:34 when Sergeant Michael Loia and officer Jonathan Williams respond to an alert from dispatch. A woman has asked police to check on her brother, 60-year-old Maurice Bird. She was really worried. She said, all the family are supposed to be meeting to decide what we're going to do about our mother. My reason was misstep for anybody. Mr. Bird was supposed to be in Wichita, Kansas because of his mother's failing health. When he failed to arrive at Wichita, they phoned 911 in Gathrey and requested officers
Starting point is 00:03:08 go to the residence and check his welfare. Maurice Bird is a familiar name in the neighborhood. I knew him. He did a lot of working with young people. And he used to live right across the street from the police department. Officer Williams and Sergeant Loia attempt to gain entry to the house.
Starting point is 00:03:27 I went to the house, walked around, you know, checked it, looked through the windows, walked around the front, around the back. Everything seemed in order. I decided to check the door. So I turned the door knob and the door came open. And with everything that the family was saying and what officer Williams had checked before, we went ahead and decided
Starting point is 00:03:49 to go inside the house and go well for a check, which normally we do do that. We announced ourselves, you know, got through police department. As you enter the house, it was warm inside. At first, everything appears normal, until they notice something alarming. I could see a chair was knocked over and there were some papers on the ground,
Starting point is 00:04:11 so that part right there seemed out of place. As officers venture through the home, their suspicions begin to grow. We're welcome to the kitchen. We look down and it was a spot of blood also. You know, the hair in the back of your neck stands up because you're saying, okay, this is, okay, so something maybe happened here. I went toward the bedroom and had my flashlight out
Starting point is 00:04:38 and looked in the bedroom and I was standing on my flashlight and I sanded it over to the left and I could see a over to the left, and I could see a body laying on the floor. We went into the room, and I knew Marcus Bird, so I knew who he was when I saw him. The Born in Independence, Kansas in 1951, Francis Maurice Burd shared a tight bond with his seven siblings and his many cousins.
Starting point is 00:05:18 They lived a block apart, so really close family, all of the kids grew up together, and then me and my cousins, we were all close to. Maurice was just always very inviting, welcoming. He was just a really nice guy. And he was really good friends with my dad. My dad and him were like best friends. He was athletic. When he was younger and we were college years,
Starting point is 00:05:41 very in shape, basketball, that type of thing. He was very young in spirit. After graduating college with a business degree, Maurice married and had children. Maurice had two wonderful children, they're my cousins, Jamal and Leila. He loved his children, he really loved his children, spoke very highly of both of them.
Starting point is 00:06:04 To provide for his family, Maurice worked as a building contractor. He could sit down and sketch it out. And in a few days, he would help the buildings run in, the streets run in. He was just a magnificence when he come to drawing. Though Maurice's true passion was his work as a director for the community building nonprofit United Way.
Starting point is 00:06:28 His personality was excellent. He always had a positive mood about him. And we were always trying to do something to help humanity. Maurice was not a greedy person. He was a sharing person. Marys, he had lots of good ideas on upward mobility and building. He was a young energetic guy that had lots of drive, lots of plans for the future. He was a soft, soft soul. He wasn't a fighter, he was a lover. He wanted to make things better. Though professionally he was thriving,
Starting point is 00:07:06 the demands of Maurice's busy schedule took a toll on his marriage. And after more than 35 years together, Maurice and his wife divorced. Now in his late 50s, Maurice found himself alone and in need of a fresh start. He moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma, and instead of looking for love again,
Starting point is 00:07:28 he threw himself into starting a real estate firm called Blackstone Global Management. He was single as far as I know him. In fact, he was with a group and they had built several houses, so he was very instrumental and very active in the construction area. Mr. Bird was a willier and dealer, you know, as far as investments and stuff like that and getting people to invest money
Starting point is 00:07:56 into whatever he was doing. We became partners in 2009. He was the one that was looking for the funds for us to move forward. And Maurice was always dedicated to what he was doing. In Guthrie, we had plans on building a school here, a technology school. We did build a few houses together here. While he built his business, Maurice continued to volunteer with youth organizations
Starting point is 00:08:22 and became a well-known figure in Guthrie. Yet during this period of prosperity, Maurice was dealt some terrible blows. We just had a lot of deaths real close. My grandmother died, my grandfather died, my father died, and my father's sister died all within two years. Through it all, Maurice kept his focus on work and his charity. Mike was very passionate about, like, a second chance
Starting point is 00:08:53 home for women who have lost their children due to drugs or crime. We looked at the pictures that he had thrown up. He saw a need for humanity and females seemed like they had one of the greatest problems because discrimination that was practiced against females in America. But on December 10, 2011, Maurice's dream is torn apart. When Guthrie police find him covered in blood in his bedroom.
Starting point is 00:09:23 We could see the body of Maurice Bird-burden down the floor next to bed. It was kind of on the side, face down on the carpet. Initial appearances, it was unclear what had happened. There was some blood on his back in a couple of different areas. So at that point, we backed out of the house, called our investigative unit, and actually we ended up calling OSBI and set up a crime scene. When homicide detectives and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Special agents arrive, they work quickly to piece together what happened. Directly from the kitchen going into the bedroom, you can see the deceased laying face down next to the bed
Starting point is 00:10:07 between the dresser and the bed. It appeared that he had been deceased for at least 12 plus hours. The individual appeared to have been shot four times. He had a bullet wound to his back, which that was the blood that was on his back. And he had a wound on his chest. A 38 caliber bullet is also found,
Starting point is 00:10:28 embedded in the carpet. And a projectile was found under his body, under his chest, which showed he was in that position when he was shot. Coming up, evidence at the crime scene points to a desperate attack. It looked like it was defensive and it seemed like he ran. And police catch an important break. To have a vehicle stay in the area once it's committed to crime as unusual, it's a strange situation.
Starting point is 00:10:59 Nobody knew who it was. who it was. On Saturday, December 10, 2011, Guthrie Oklahoma police officers find Maurice Bird lying dead in a pool of blood inside his home. Homicide detectives and OSBI special agents quickly determined that Maurice had been murdered and fought for his life. When we came inside the dining room, we looked to the right and saw the chair knocked over and saw blood on the floor, and the first indicator on my mind was like, okay, I fight.
Starting point is 00:11:43 The chaos appears to be concentrated in the dining room, suggesting the struggle began there. You have items that are knocked over things that are thrown. There was a larger binder with papers with a page of strewn about. It seemed like he ran. He's fighting, he's running. He was shot definitely once in the kitchen
Starting point is 00:12:06 because of the blood that was on the floor. Detectives believe Maurice likely ran to the bedroom, hoping to defend himself. Mr. Bird did have a handgun in his bedroom, and it might have been that that's where he was trying to get to. He was even maybe shot in his back and running into the bedroom. Maurice never reached that weapon
Starting point is 00:12:28 and was shot three more times. There was no other exit out of his bedroom. It's almost like running into the trap. A further sweep of the house seems to rule out at least one motive for the crime. They assume just a break in occurred. A robbery is usually the number one thing in and out type deal.
Starting point is 00:12:53 But the more and more it went on, realized this was not a robbery. It was not a way to say. Only the living room and the kitchen was a little bit, you know, indisturring other than the bedroom. and the kitchen was a little bit, you know, and just the right other than bedroom. MUSIC As detectives scour the inside of Maurice's home,
Starting point is 00:13:10 outside, officers speak with his landlord. Mr. Wallace O. and showed up on scene, actually, and stated that he had known Mr. Bird for about two years. And speaking with him, he had some information for us. According to Wallace, Maurice was a well-known entrepreneur in the community who had various business ventures. We were wondering is this a business deal that gone bad, you know, there obviously had been a some type of altercation inside the house.
Starting point is 00:13:39 A lot of things go through your mind why it shares not over, why is it faggers. Though he can't be certain, Wallace doesn't know of any bad deals that might have landed Maurice in hot water. It was very good tenant. Maurice paid his rent on time, and as far as I know, he didn't owe anybody. It was a very nice guy, and I think he took care of
Starting point is 00:14:01 business. I couldn't figure out who could have done it over. I... Hoping for more information, investigators canvass the neighborhood. We started being dispatched to canvass the neighborhood, start talking to neighbors, start talking to see if there's any witnesses,
Starting point is 00:14:20 if anybody heard gunshots, or any movement. The thing about that house, the way that house sits, it's not a lot of houses around that you can look out and see anything. Though Maurice's neighbors may not have witnessed anything unusual, there may be another way to know what happened. I immediately begin looking in the area for any type of cameras or surveillance equipment. It is a huge, huge tool.
Starting point is 00:14:51 A lot of them at time are running 24-7 and some of them are motion activated. We did look at the church next door, which was south of his residence, and that had cameras on them. We found out where the cameras were. I'm facing, oh yeah, now we got something going. and that had cameras on them. We found out where the cameras were. A face and, oh, yeah, now we've got something going.
Starting point is 00:15:10 Detectives obtain the tapes and soon realize that their big break is also a big job. When you find video surveillance of a particular area that you want to review and you're not 100% sure of when the crime occurred, you have to start at the very beginning, and you start watching frame by frame, waiting for anything to develop. You're actually scared to blink,
Starting point is 00:15:36 scared that you're going to miss something. Investigators work backward from the time Maurice's body was discovered. Hours and hours of video show no activity at Maurice's home. Quality of the video was kind of poor. He couldn't really see a whole lot. Finally, when Detective Scroll to December 8, two days before Maurice's body was discovered, someone approaches his front door. That approximately 10.30 a.m., the landlord
Starting point is 00:16:10 arrived at the residence. You can see him go, and he rings the doorbell. There's no answer. Though it's not much, it does give law enforcement a critical data point. I believe he was deceased at that time. Then authorities rewind to the evening of December 7th at 718 p.m. I was able to observe a gold-colored vehicle pull up to the church on the south side.
Starting point is 00:16:43 You couldn't see Lyston's place, you couldn't see a whole lot, you know, just enough to make out that this was the elderly lady. A unknown white female appeared to be elderly, gets out, and walked around the church to Mr. Bird's residence. She was in there approximately five minutes, came back out, and went back out to her car. Then the vehicle appears in the alleyway. It pulls up and you can see it on the north camera, and it's there for approximately 18 minutes. After the vehicle drives away from the church, over the next 10 minutes you can see the vehicle drive past Mr. Bird's house two more times.
Starting point is 00:17:29 On its third pass, the vehicle goes directly to Maurice's home. At 2030 hours, a set of headlights appears and pulls in to Mr. Bird's driveway. This time, the car sits parked for more than an hour until it finally drives off at 9.45 p.m. The driver's strange behavior sends up red flags for detectives. Could they have caught their killer on tape? In my investigative experience to have a vehicle stay in the area
Starting point is 00:18:04 once it's committed to crime as unusual, it's a strange situation. Here's a, you know, a mature female lady that's walking into this house and you might think to yourself, hey, this person couldn't be capable of committing a heinous crime. Though they doubt the elderly woman is Maurice's killer, authorities believe she may be a valuable witness. We think it is, lady, know something.
Starting point is 00:18:31 We immediately think that she knows something because the timeline of the murder and the timeline of her coming and leaving. So we think that she may not have done it, but she knows something. Authorities put a blow on the woman and her car, but identifying her won't be easy. You know, to be on the lookout for maybe a white female
Starting point is 00:18:54 driving a golden colored Fordor sedan, you know, we would be stopping a lot of people. Coming up, a family's grief turns up a lead. Family members notice a lady at the funeral, and she told them that she had loan Mr. Burr several thousand dollars. And an unlikely interview shines new light on the investigation. I've been placed a picture from the surveillance camera in front of her. Detectives in Guthrie, Oklahoma are eager to identify an elderly woman seen on security
Starting point is 00:19:41 footage walking toward the home of murder victim Maurice Bird. You wanted to talk to her to find out if she knew anything, not that she was necessarily the suspect, but maybe she knows something. Police ask the public for help identifying the woman. Authorities are looking for the person who killed 60-year-old Frances Maurice Bird. Tonight they're asking anyone who might know something to speak up. But days pass with no reported sightings.
Starting point is 00:20:13 Investigators are looking for those clues, and of course, the public is trying to figure that out too. People are looking for this gold vehicle. People are on social media asking for ideas, but days. You're going by buy there's still no answers. Then, one week into the investigation, Maurice's family lays him to rest, and contacts detectives with a strange new lead in the case.
Starting point is 00:20:41 The funeral was in Kansas, and one of the family members contacted law enforcement saying that something strange happened there. Some family members noticed a lady at Mr. Burr's funeral. She speaks with family members about Mr. Burr. She told them that she had loaned Mr. Bird several thousand dollars, and she was inquiring about the money. She wanted to know if the family could pay her the money that Mr. Bird owed her.
Starting point is 00:21:17 They thought that it was real strange for her to be contacted and trying to get money like that. The woman's behavior raises a red flag for investigators as well. First thought is brazen. I'm going to show up to the funeral of the family who's grieving and then ask them for money is shocking. Why would she be at the funeral as saying that Marry's owed her money?
Starting point is 00:21:44 I mean, what kind of deal, and what are they doing? I asked him if he happened to have gotten her name. And he said, yes, he did. And her name was Beverly McComb. Mr. Bird's phone records were retrieved and looked at. And there was a message or a phone conversation with Ms. McComb at 802. The call took place a half hour before police believe
Starting point is 00:22:06 Maurice was killed. That was extremely important. I also got tower information on Beverly McComb's phone, showing she was in Guthrie, Oklahoma, at the time she made that phone call. Is Beverly McComb the elderly woman from the security video. I researched and contacted Texas Department of Public Safety. They in turn searched for Beverly McComb,
Starting point is 00:22:32 and they found that she lived in Forty Texas, and she did own a gold Toyota Avalon. So investigators run this information, and it comes back to a 65-year-old lady with no prior criminal history and you're like, dead-in, this can't be a murder, this is a dead-in. Even if Beverly is not the shooter, investigators still need to find out what she witnessed. I contacted the Texas Rangers, and I requested their assistance in locating Beverly McComb at her residence in Forney, Texas. Rangers make contact on December 20th,
Starting point is 00:23:16 10 days after Maurice's body was found. I requested that she go to the Forney Police Department and speak with me voluntarily. And she agreed. All right. How do you know Maurice? Um, I went with his cousin, Tommy, back in 87. Okay. When you say you went with him as it dated? Yes, yes.
Starting point is 00:23:42 For Beverly McCom, Maurice's cousin Tommy was the one that got away. When my mom and dad got divorced, we went to Dad's on the weekend. And his girlfriend was this tall skinny, pretty red-head named Beverly. She was very nice between the eighth grade and ninth grade year. Dad was dating Beverly.
Starting point is 00:24:03 Beverly and Dad were living together. She was kind of shy, just quiet and so soft-spoken and I don't think she knew an enemy. Though Beverly always believed she and Tommy were meant for each other, the relationship didn't last. They were together through some of my high school years and then they weren't together anymore. My dad said him and Beverly broke up. Beverly was heartbroken, and as the years passed,
Starting point is 00:24:32 she never found the same spark she shared with Tommy. I don't remember her ever talking about being married or having boyfriend or anything. I was always hopeful that she would meet someone and have a married life and all that. But finding a husband would always take a back seat to Beverly's family. She had her sister and her mom,
Starting point is 00:24:58 but that's not a husband. One day, her mom had this devastating stroke that left her unable to even take care of herself, they looked close and her mom was just an absolute doll. After the stroke, Beverly helped care for her mother until she passed away. Now alone again, 22 years after they broke up, Beverly found herself longing for Tommy. I guess it was maybe like six, eight months ago. I just felt the urge to contacting.
Starting point is 00:25:35 I finally went on the website 411 and it had his name and at the site it had deceased. I tried to find out what happened, and I contacted Maurice. That's how I reconnected with Maurice. We just started talking like we've been talking all along for years. We just, that's how our renewed friendship, I guess, started. Well, he's was going to build a woman shelter.
Starting point is 00:26:13 And I think that Beverly was just a caring person in the first place. So I can see how she would be drawn to someone like that. Beverly tells detectives that she wanted to support Maurice and his mission. They was working on some kind of financial deal. And he had asked her money to help him. Beverly sold her jewelry and then went to the bank and got loans and gave it to him. So what time of relationship did you and Marie
Starting point is 00:26:46 end up having where you guys, boys from girlfriend? No, no, no, no. We were very good friends. She was the kind of person that would do anything for a true friend, and she trusted him. If you had to guess at a total dollar amount that you gave him over the past three months. Ugh.
Starting point is 00:27:05 I think it came out to 17,000 and something. Beverly explains that she planned to move to Oklahoma for a fresh start after her mom passed, and Maurice was going to help her just like she helped him. If it was deep enough for her to move in, I think that's a pretty deep relationship. He was gonna help me move. I was trying to find a job in Edmund. So you've been up there looking for jobs and stuff?
Starting point is 00:27:35 Yes, yes. Several different jobs. We talked about it, that rather than me making so many trips since it was so far far that I should just set aside some time. Gotcha. I decided I would do like seven days. According to Beverly, she last saw Maurice a few days before he died.
Starting point is 00:28:00 I confronted Beverly McComb about being in Guthrie, Oklahoma on the evening of December 7th. She had stated that she about being in Guthrie, Oklahoma on the evening of December 7th. She had stated that she was not in Guthrie, Oklahoma. You stayed there all seven nights? I didn't stay there the last night, so I decided to leave late early. I then placed a picture from the surveillance camera in front of her, asking her if that was her.
Starting point is 00:28:26 And she at that point did state, yes, that's me. Do you know how Marie's died? That he was shot. Let me help you after just a moment. The worst thing that you can do is lie to me about something. Okay, I'm going to ask you straight out. Were you in the house when he died? Got shot.
Starting point is 00:28:47 Backed into a corner, Beverly admits she hasn't been entirely truthful with detectives. Beverly admitted that she had lied, that she had been to Mr. Bird's house that evening. Coming up, Beverly points to a killer. While she was in the bathroom, she heard a pop. And an outrageous revelation catches investigators off guard. While interviewing 65-year-old Beverly McComb at the Forney Police Department,
Starting point is 00:29:19 Beverly shocks investigators when she reveals that she knows who killed her friend and business partner, Maurice Bird, because she was there when it happened. She stated that it wasn't her that had shot Mr. Bird, that it was an individual by the name of maps. Is it your boyfriend? He's just so stupid. that it wasn't her that had shot Mr. Bird, that it was an individual by the name of MAPS. Is he your boyfriend? He's just... he's just someone that I had met.
Starting point is 00:29:54 How did you meet him in... in Gathrey? Who is he? You know, I don't know his last name. Beverly says that before long, she and Max grew close. And when she told him about her business plans with Maurice, he said it sounded like Maurice had taken advantage of her.
Starting point is 00:30:14 Beverly stated that Max had told Beverly that Bird would never give her her money back. He'd brought it up a bit, but he thought that I needed to do something to try and, you know, to get some of the money back. Beverly agreed, an asked Max to go with her to Maurice's home so they could share their concerns with Maurice. She thought that he would help her maybe try to recover her money that Mr. Bird owed her so she brought him along as
Starting point is 00:30:48 I would have met I believe she said for to intimidate Mr. Bird Beverly says that on the evening of December 7th, she drove Max to Maurice's house You guys go up to the door And what happens? Marie's lets us in. I've asked him if he really intended on paying me back. And he said, Jal, that he did. I went in to use the bathroom.
Starting point is 00:31:20 According to Beverly, that's when things escalated. While she was in the bathroom, she heard a pop. At that time, she heard screaming. Startles and worried, Beverly says she ran from the bathroom. She came out and she saw Max shoot Mr. Burd. And she stated she couldn't remember much after that. She just remembered she was screaming. According to Beverly, instead of being scared for his life,
Starting point is 00:31:56 Maurice was angry. I heard Maurice say something about you have again, and I have one, two. I hurry up and go out. I wanted to get out of there. I was on my way out. The door worked, and I heard some more shots. She goes on out to the car, and she gets in the passenger's
Starting point is 00:32:24 seat. A couple of moments later, Max comes out and gets in the driver's seat and they leave. What didn't you call police? I guess I was scared. Though Beverly appears genuine, to detectives, there's one fatal flaw in her version of events. I confronted her with the fact that there would be video showing who was driving the vehicle. She in turn then changed her story again. This time, she was the one that got in the driver's seat,
Starting point is 00:32:53 and that Max had never gotten back in the vehicle, and that he had left walking on foot, and that's why we wouldn't be able to see him in the vehicle on the video. With Beverly's story changing by the minute, detectives are skeptical of her account. Is Max even real? And if so, can he fill in the missing pieces in her story?
Starting point is 00:33:14 You know his phone number? I've got it written down. Where's it written down at? He wrote it down on a piece of paper. She had his phone number down on a piece of paper. She had his phone number written on a piece of paper at her residence. As Beverly waits at the police station,
Starting point is 00:33:34 investigators perform a search of her home. They did, in fact, find a piece of paper where she said it would be with a phone number on it. I, in turn, contacted the Guthrie Police Department and had them begin searching for who owned that particular phone number. The phone number is not all they find. She indicated that she did have a 38-calibre pistol
Starting point is 00:33:58 in her closet. And there was also a box of ammunition with five rounds of ammunition missing. When I asked her what happened to the five rounds of ammunition, she stated that she had thrown them away and she couldn't remember where. Obviously, this puts more pieces to the puzzle together. Mr. Bird, we shot four times.
Starting point is 00:34:20 A lot of times when you see multiple ones it's like a revenge type of shooting. Investigators need to determine if this is the gun that was used to kill Maurice, and if Max wielded it. Luckily, it won't take long for them to find out. A search of the phone number that Beverly provided for Max came back to a Marion Maxwell from the Guthrie of Guamay area. It appears Beverly wasn't lying about Max. For Guthrie police, Marion Maxwell is a familiar name. When investigators do run Max's name, he does have a criminal history. We were looking for him.
Starting point is 00:35:06 And I know him, everybody know I know him. I've arrested Max a little few times myself. Officer Williams drives around the small town and finally spots Max in a store parking lot. I didn't arrest him. I took him in for a question. I told him, Max, what I want to talk to you about this. You know, he's, I didn't do it.
Starting point is 00:35:28 And then he still told me about him and this lady. Sitting down with detectives, Max explains how he met Beverly in the first week of December. He said he was just walking in this lady's stopper store talking to him. Max claims Beverly picked him up and took him back to her hotel, where they spent the next few days together.
Starting point is 00:35:49 He ended up at a motel, where he just had a sexual relationship with this lady. When pressed about the murder, Max claims he has no idea who Maurice Bird even is. He was cooperative, you know, he would say, he don't know nothing about what happened to Maurice.
Starting point is 00:36:09 Max tells investigators he was not at the house in that he was at a different location at the time of the burger. Max tells them at the time that he's given that he's at a grocery store, So investigators, smart enough, go to the videotape once again at that grocery store. I go out to the manager and go to the grocery store and he showed me the video and there's Maxwell. Max was at the homeland store in Guthrie at the time of the murder and so the video cleared Max of the murder. He was telling the truth of where he was at. So that proved that she was lying to us. Coming up, investigators finally piece together the truth. She just builds up frustration, getting more upset,
Starting point is 00:36:55 more upset. And an unlikely scenario plays out in court. I'm just... no, I'm a little bit shocked. The story I heard were like, no, she would never do that. Nobody thought she was the one that did. MUSIC Having caught 65-year-old Beverly McComb in a series of lies, homicide investigators are now convinced
Starting point is 00:37:27 that she killed her friend and business partner, Maurice Bird. When more and more investigated, the more and more put the pieces together, maybe this is our suspect. On December 22, 2011, 12 days into the investigation, authorities in Texas place her under arrest. Beverly McComb was extradited back to Guthrie, Oklahoma, to stand trial for the murder of Mr. Bird. As detectives work to solidify their case, they uncover that Beverly had secured the gun just prior to the murder.
Starting point is 00:38:06 She had bought it in Gainesville, and it was determined that she bought it the day of the murder. Ballistics analysis run on the gun confirm that it is indeed the murder weapon. She did have a 38 caliber pistol, and it was a 38 caliber projectile that was found under him. Preparing for trial, prosecutors begin laying out the events of December 7. They speculate that Beverly went to Maurice's home that evening alone. She went up to Mr. Bird, asking for her money bet
Starting point is 00:38:45 in $20,000 back, and didn't get the answer. She was looking for, became frustrated, left. Instead of accepting Maurice's explanation and heading back to Texas, Beverly circled the block as captured on video. That built up in her hand. I've been frustrated that she's out this much money, and she just builds up frustration, frustration, drives around the house, get more upset, more upset,
Starting point is 00:39:13 and then ultimately trying to decide what do I do. When you look at that, it's like you're building up your courage to do what you think you're going to do. And especially somebody that's probably in her case, not having criminal history, maybe she was building her courage. Eventually, Beverly returned to Maurice's home and Maurice let her in once again,
Starting point is 00:39:37 and they continued their argument. The paperwork that was on the floor, he probably had it in his hand, you know, maybe the paperwork was trying to show her what he did on the floor. He probably had it in his hand. You know, maybe the paperwork was trying to shore what he did with the money. Prosecutors believe Beverly's anger boiled over, and they tussles. I believe that looking at the evidence,
Starting point is 00:39:55 it appears that it started right for the table and where I saw the chair knocked over area. When she pulled the gun, he turned to flee. He was shot in his back, running into the bedroom. He was trying to get to his gun. But I think that she probably chased him in there and shot him again. Beverly shot Maurice three more times, point blank,
Starting point is 00:40:21 and watched him die. Then she left and drove home to Texas where she stashed the gun in her closet as if nothing had happened. I don't think nobody thought at first that she was the one that did. You know, it was kind of a surprise when we figured out it was her.
Starting point is 00:40:43 Was it greed that drove the lonely 65-year-old to murder or something more? I don't believe that this was motivated by money. I believe that it was motivated by Beverly Wanting to have some relationship or hold on to some relationship. It was believed that that was a portion of what caused the emotional aspect, caused her to drive up, caused her to take care of this. At her arrangement on January 5, 2012, Beverly looks nothing at all like a cold-blooded killer.
Starting point is 00:41:17 Miss McCall made a court appearance in Logan County and played it not guilty to the charge of first degree. During her court proceedings in the courtroom, it was weird to me to see a 65-year-old lady in an orange jumpsuit surrounded by other people who commit crimes. With the chains around her ankles, chains around her wrists, you would never, ever guess her as a murderer. guest her as a murderer. Then at another hearing in March 2013, the now 66-year-old Beverly proves that looks can be deceiving.
Starting point is 00:41:53 Several months later, she comes back and pleads guilty to second-degree murder. Having had time to think about the evidence against her, Beverly now admits she shot Maurice, but claims there was no premeditation. She admitted to doing the murder and explained the reasons why, and we were all shocked when that happened. Beverly's plea comes with a lighter sentence than a first degree charge. Beverly took the plea of secondary murder and sentence than a first degree charge. Beverly took a plea of second degree murder
Starting point is 00:42:27 and was given a sentence of 40 years, 30 years of that suspended for good behavior. So that means that 10 years and she's out. I know a lot of it had to with her age. The light sentencing comes as a final blow to Maurice's loved ones. I can't believe that this woman creeped back into my life somehow and killed my cousin's dad like it's unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:42:55 No one should get 10 years from murdering someone. No one should get 10 years for taking someone's life. This woman showed up at the funeral, at his funeral, asking for money. To kill somebody, to see if she'd have went to prison for the rest of life. This was a bizarre case just because of Miss McComb being a 65-year-old lady. It just shows you that anybody at any time
Starting point is 00:43:24 can commit a crime. The devil doesn't always look like the devil. Following her trial, Beverly McComb was transported to Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Oklahoma. After maintaining good behavior, she was released on parole in 2020. She was 73 years old.

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