Cold Case Files: A prosecutorial “housecleaning” in 2003 denied justice to families in double homicide of brothers

On a quiet March morning in 2001, a grandfather’s routine visit to pick up his granddaughter turned into a nightmare that still haunts Adair County and Eastern Oklahoma more than 25 years later.

Around 6 a.m. on March 14, 2001, the father of Jason Dewayne White and Jamie Dale White arrived at their mobile home in Westville to collect the young child. Instead, he discovered his two sons -- Jason, 23, and Jamie, 27 -- shot to death inside. A 9-month-old granddaughter, who had been sleeping in the home during the attack, was found unharmed.

A 14-year-old brother had last seen the pair alive around 10:30 p.m. the previous night.

The killings were brutal and calculated. Investigators determined that several shots from a .38 caliber weapon were fired through the bedroom wall into the living room where the brothers were.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) quickly focused on a neighbor: Joel “Mouse” Crittenden, who lived in a home directly behind the victims’ trailer.

In June 2001, Adair County prosecutors charged Crittenden with two counts of first-degree murder. For a brief time, it appeared justice would come swiftly for the White family.

Then, in February 2003, the murder charges against Crittenden were quietly dropped as part of a larger “housecleaning” effort in Adair County that also dismissed more than 100 old civil cases. No explanation for the dismissal was widely publicized, and no new charges were ever filed against Crittenden or any other suspect.

The case has remained unsolved ever since.

Westville, a small town in Adair County near the Arkansas border, was no stranger to hardship in 2001, but the murder of two young local brothers in their own home sent shockwaves through the community.

The Whites were well-known in the area, and the presence of a sleeping infant during the shooting added another layer of horror.

The OSBI has continued to list the double homicide as an active cold case. Investigators believe someone in the community holds information that could break it open. The agency urges anyone with details -- no matter how small --to come forward.

The brutal nature of the crime, the quick identification of a suspect, and the subsequent dismissal of charges have left the White family and local residents with more questions than answers. Why were the brothers targeted? Was there a personal dispute? What led to the charges being dropped?

Today, the OSBI remains the lead agency. Tips can be submitted anonymously by calling (800) 522-8017.