" Citizen of the Year ": "He did a lot for our community. But then he did something bad.”
Local Oklahoma Man Kills Pregnant Waitress Over Letter To Editor
July 20, 2005 6:29 p.m. EST Douglas Maher - All Headline News Staff Reporter
Hominy,OK (AHN)- A man walks into a crowded diner and shoots and kills a pregnant waitress.
63-year old Roy Westbrook, killed 26-year-old Becky Clements over a letter she wrote to the editor of the local newspaper about upstanding citizens creating grafitti and vandalism in the small town of Hominy, Oklahoma.
Although the story did not name Westbrook, Clements made reference to a rental home that Westbrook owned that Clements sister happened to live in.
Westbrook apparently spray-painted the home in efforts to get the sister to move out.
Westbrook was named Hominy's 2004 Citizen of the Year. He was honored earlier this year by the very newspaper the letter went to, "The Hominy News Progress", the papaer gave Westbrook an award for his generosity to the community.
source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/2243797170
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Man arrested in killing may have had grudge over rental property
The Associated Press
HOMINY, Okla. — A prominent citizen accused of shooting a pregnant waitress in front of the lunchtime crowd at a Main Street diner may have held a grudge over a letter she wrote to a local newspaper in June, the Osage County sheriff said Wednesday.
Rebecca Clements, 26, was shot Tuesday as she put in an order at the kitchen window at the Hominy Diner.
The killing stunned this Osage County town of 3,700, many of whom know both Clements and the accused shooter, Roy Westbrook, a 63-year-old who was named Hominy's Citizen of the Year last year. Hominy is about 40 miles northwest of Tulsa.
Sheriff Ty Koch said Westbrook had been involved in a dispute with one of the woman's family members over some rental property.
"Whenever the feud started, she took it on herself to write a letter to the editor," he said. "That's what got him focused in on her."
In a letter published June 1 in The Hominy News-Progress, Clements wrote that it seemed "the vandalism in this town is not only done by misled children but by some of the most prominent citizens of Hominy."
The letter referred to spray-painted graffiti on a rental home owned by Westbrook that read, "GET OUT, GET OUT." The Tulsa World reported that Clements' sister, Amanda Connolly, rented the small home from Westbrook, and he had been trying to evict her.
The letter did not name Westbrook but said the spray-painting was the work of the owner of the house. The same day the letter appeared in the newspaper, Westbrook went to court to force Connolly out, and a judge ordered her to vacate two weeks later.
"That's really the only motive we can find at this time," the sheriff said.
Westbrook, who was honored by the Chamber of Commerce last year for his work to beautify a local park, was arrested a half a block from the diner after the shooting.
Koch said Clements was shot three times, once in the head and twice in the lower torso, with a 9 mm hangun.
Witnesses said Westbrook had walked in about 11:55 a.m. and asked the cashier which waitress "Rebecca" was. He then left and returned 20 minutes later, when the shooting occurred.
"He just walked in like a customer," said Tracie Carter, another waitress at the diner. "She was putting in an order, and he just put a gun to her head and shot her, then shot her twice more after she fell. Then he walked out to his car, threw the gun in the passenger seat and drove off."
The Osage County Sheriff's Department will ask District Attorney Larry Stuart to charge Westbrook with two counts of first-degree murder — one for Clements, who was about 11 weeks' pregnant, and the other for her unborn child, Undersheriff Lou Ann Brown said.
When Westbrook was arrested, he smelled as if he had been drinking, the undersheriff said.
source: http://ap.ardmoreite.com/pstories/state/ok/20050720/3171530.shtml
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Exec at Oklahoma Paper Offers Details on How a Letter to Editor Led to Murder
By Lesley Messer
Published: July 20, 2005 10:30 PM ET
NEW YORK The general manager of a small Oklahoma weekly said she was hesitant to print a letter to the editor by Rebecca Clements, the 26-year-old pregnant waitress who was shot and killed on Tuesday, allegedly by the subject of the letter.
Ramona Brown, general manager of The Hominy (Okla.) News Progress, told E&P it was no secret in the town of 3,700 that Clements' critical letter was aimed at Roy Westbrook, a landlord who had been feuding with Clements and her sister for months.
Westbrook is expected to be charged with murdering Clements and her unborn baby some time this week. Witnesses say the 63-year-old Westbrook walked into the diner where Clements worked and shot her in the head, stomach, and chest.
Brown, the newspaper's general manager, who was having lunch at the diner when the shooting occurred, said she knew both parties personally and was aware of their ongoing feud. According to Brown, Westbrook spray-painted the phrase "get out" on a house rented by Clements' sister, who apparently owed Westbrook money. This prompted Clements to write the letter to the editor, which criticized prominent citizens for vandalism but did not mention Westbrook's name.
Brown said that was the last she heard of the argument until Tuesday's shooting.
She said that in Hominy, people are very familiar with their neighbors and often know one another's personal business. In fact, she said, that’s a main selling point for the paper.
“Everyone wants to know who got caught doing what,” she said. “We are a small town and we know everybody. I knew [Clements] very well and loved her very much. I knew [Westbrook] very well and I had no problems with him. He did a lot for our community. But then he did something bad.”
Brown said that Westbrook spent a lot of time and money improving a park in Hominy. He was honored as the city's "Citizen of the Year" in 2004.
The Hominy News Progress is a weekly newspaper that comes out on Wednesdays. News of the shooting made it to the front-page and Brown said that the paper is planning follow-up coverage. It will also report on the events surrounding the death -- such as how those affected by the shooting can receive counseling.
“The thing is, in our little community, we have lots of things that happen here – bad things,” Brown said. “But in a community like this, people love each other and when this happens it almost draws us closer together… We’re in this situation together and we’ll be strong together and pull through together.”
source: http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000989013
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Hominy Oklahoma - From comments above and on the following website, it appears to be a "Feels Like Home" Community !
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