Cold Case Files: Mystery and policital intrigue surrounded 1981 off-duty killing of former Okmulgee County sheriff

On the evening of August 31, 1981, the small town of Beggs in Okmulgee County was rocked by the brutal slaying of one of its own--a 55-year-old police officer named Harry Elwood Liles.

Found slumped in the driver’s seat of his pickup truck along U.S. Highway 75, just north of Okmulgee, Liles had been shot to death, his life cut short in a crime that remains unsolved more than four decades later.

Harry Elwood Liles was no stranger to law enforcement. Born in 1925, he had served as the Okmulgee County Sheriff before joining the Beggs Police Department, where he was employed at the time of his death.

Liles was also known to moonlight as a private investigator, a role that placed him at the center of a high-profile case involving the murder of Okmulgee court reporter Ray Courtemanche earlier that year.

Liles was working for Dexter Bailey Jr., a local rodeo roper acquitted in Courtemanche’s slaying, when his own life was tragically taken.

Liles was a familiar figure in Beggs, a tight-knit community of about 1,100 people at the time. His dedication to serving and protecting was evident, but his work may have placed him in the crosshairs of danger.

On that fateful August evening, Liles was returning from a car auction in Tulsa when he was found dead in his vehicle. The cause of death was clear: a shotgun blast that ended his life instantly. His body was discovered beside U.S. 75, a quiet stretch of road that offered little in the way of witnesses or immediate clues.

The circumstances of the shooting suggested a targeted attack, but the motive and the identity of the perpetrator remained elusive.

The timing of Liles’ death raised eyebrows. Just a week prior, Beggs Police Chief Barney Spradling had attempted to have Liles fired, citing “job conduct” complaints. A city council hearing on the matter was scheduled but never took place due to Liles’ murder.

Spradling, however, denied any involvement in the killing, and District Attorney James Jordan stated that evidence did not support a “provable case” against the chief. Spradling’s refusal to answer questions at an October 9, 1981, inquest further fueled speculation, though no charges were ever filed.

The murder of Harry Liles came at a turbulent time for Okmulgee County. Earlier in 1981, the killing of Ray Courtemanche had already shaken the region, and Liles’ death deepened concerns about rising crime. Some residents whispered about “organized crime” infiltrating the area, with Beggs Postmaster Bill Wilburn suggesting the slaying was the work of an outsider--someone who “stepped on some toes.”

Others, however, maintained that Beggs remained a quiet, law-abiding town, despite the headlines.

The lack of arrests in Liles’ case, combined with the acquittal in the Courtemanche murder, left many in Okmulgee County frustrated.

Fire Chief Ernest Ledbetter noted a series of unsolved arson fires in the area during 1980 and 1981, speculating that criminals from larger cities were targeting smaller towns like Okmulgee, believing they could “get away with it.” The unsolved nature of these crimes, including Liles’ murder, cast a long shadow over the community.

Investigators initially explored a possible connection between Liles’ murder and the Courtemanche case, given Liles’ role as a private investigator for Bailey. However, no concrete evidence emerged to substantiate this link. Rumors swirled about tensions within the Beggs Police Department, particularly Spradling’s efforts to dismiss Liles, but these too failed to yield definitive leads.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) has since included Liles’ case among its cold case files, though it is not explicitly listed in their current public database of unsolved homicides.

The OSBI encourages anyone with information on unsolved cases to contact their tip line at tips@osbi.ok.gov or 1-800-522-8017.