The key to solving Lela Johnston’s murder sat in evidence for nearly 50 years before police had the means to identify her killer.
But DNA alone wasn’t enough to find out who assaulted and murdered Johnston, a 68-year-old woman who lived alone on north Robinson Avenue in May 1976. Detectives with the OKCPD Cold Case Unit announced this week that for the first time, they used genealogy research to solve a murder case. Putting a face to the DNA profile finally gave Johnston’s family the closure they deserve.
“I thought it would never be finished,” Johnston’s granddaughter Leslie Sullenger recently told police. “It had been so long.”
Finding a killer through genealogy
The technology to analyze and compare DNA didn’t exist in 1976. During the police investigation, however, detectives collected enough evidence that a sample could be analyzed decades later.
They couldn’t find a match in the national database, said OKCPD Det. Chris Miller.
“It kind of went cold again for several years,” he said in a video about the investigation produced by the police department.
In recent years, however, with the popularity of at-home DNA tests to learn more about your ancestry, police have been able to compare a suspect’s genetic profile to millions of those voluntarily given to genealogy companies. One of the most high-profile cases solved using genealogy was the Golden State Killer serial murder case.
This allows police and researchers to comb through family trees and identify anyone who might be a suspect. Sometimes it produces a lead, sometimes a dead end.
“We thought we were getting close sometimes, and then find out we’re down the wrong path,” Miller said.
With the help of DNA Labs International and genealogist Allison Martin-Krensky, police eventually discovered their suspect: Charles O. Droke.
Droke was 28 years old when he forced his way into Johnston’s home, raped her and brutally killed her. By now, though, Droke was already dead.
Charles O. Droke
Victim’s family feels ‘at peace’
Sullenger, the granddaughter of Droke’s victim, told police that her grandmother was a loving, caring person.
“She sewed fantastic, she made all my school clothes. She cared for her yard, her home,” Sullenger said. “I felt that she was an integral part of my life.”
The horrific murder was devastating to the family.
“We were extremely upset and confused because they didn’t take anything from the house. They just took her life,” Sullenger said.
Droke met his own violent end, however. About 13 years after he murdered Lela Johnston, he was shot and killed by his own brother, Edwin. According to news reports at the time, Edwin Droke shot his brother in the head after a confrontation.
Edwin was eventually given the death penalty but killed himself two days later, all but closing out a violent chapter in Oklahoma City’s history.
“I just couldn’t believe it. After all these years, to finally have an answer. Are they ever going to pay for doing this? And he has,” Sullenger said. “It is very important that this is solved. I feel an inner peace now.”