Cold Case Files: OSBI maintains effort to discover 2008 killer of Gottfriede "Frieda" Dighton from Pauls Valley
- Dennis McCaslin
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
In the quiet, wooded hills of Buffalo Valley, a small rural community in Latimer County, Oklahoma, life has always moved at the pace of the seasons. On June 5, 2008, that rhythm was shattered when deputies from the Latimer County Sheriff's Office conducted a welfare check at the home of 67-year-old Marie Gottfriede "Frieda" Dighton.
What they found would haunt the tight-knit area for nearly two decades.
Frieda Dighton--born July 8, 1939--was a beloved mother, grandmother, and independent spirit known throughout the community. She lived alone in her modest rural home, a place where neighbors looked out for one another and doors were often left unlocked.
Friends and family described her as kind, self-reliant, and deeply devoted to her loved ones. Yet on that early summer day, the welfare check--prompted by her failure to answer phone calls--revealed a scene of brutal violence.
Dighton was discovered on the floor of her bedroom, the victim of a savage attack. An autopsy later confirmed she had suffered severe trauma to her neck, with reports indicating her throat had been slashed multiple times--nine, according to some accounts--with additional defensive wounds on her left hand suggesting she fought back fiercely against her attacker.
The brutality of the assault stood in stark contrast to the condition of the home: nothing appeared ransacked, valuable items including cash remained untouched, and there were no signs of forced entry or a struggle beyond the bedroom itself. Authorities quickly ruled out robbery as the motive, leaving investigators puzzled by what could have driven such a targeted, personal act of violence.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) took over the case, treating it as a homicide from the outset. Early leads were pursued, but in a rural county like Latimer, where populations are small and everyone knows everyone, the absence of obvious suspects made progress difficult.
No fingerprints, no murder weapon recovered at the scene, and no clear motive emerged in the initial investigation. The case went cold within months, despite appeals for information.In the years that followed, Frieda's family refused to let the memory fade. In 2009, the OSBI offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
By 2012, one of her daughters, Evelyn Norman of Talihina, doubled the reward to $20,000 in a desperate bid to generate new leads. Media outlets from News9 and The Oklahoman covered the story, highlighting the family's ongoing hope that someone in the community knew something.
Facebook pages dedicated to justice for Frieda, including one titled "Murder of Marie G. Dighton" with hundreds of supporters, kept the case visible.As of 2026--now 18 years later--the case remains active on the OSBI's official cold case list.
The agency describes it succinctly: "On June 5, 2008, Marie Dighton was found dead on the floor of her home in Latimer County, Oklahoma. Dighton had trauma to her neck but the home had not been ransacked and cash was left untouched." The OSBI continues to encourage tips through its Cold Case Unit at cold.case@osbi.ok.gov or the tip line at 1-800-522-8017
.Buffalo Valley, a place of rolling hills, pine forests, and quiet country roads, still remembers Frieda Dighton. Her murder is one of the few unsolved homicides in Latimer County's recent history, a lingering shadow in a community where violent crime is rare.
The lack of a clear motive--personal? random? something hidden in the fabric of small-town life--continues to fuel speculation among locals and online true-crime enthusiasts.Who could have entered her home undetected? Why leave valuables behind? And most hauntingly, who carried the secret of that June morning for nearly two decades?
Frieda's family and investigators still hope that time, or conscience, will provide the answers.
In rural Oklahoma, justice often arrives slowly--but for Frieda Dighton, it has not arrived aall
.If you have any information about the murder of Marie "Frieda" Dighton, please contact the OSBI Cold Case Unit.
No detail is too small. Someone knows something.
