True Crime Chronicles: Karma caught the murderer of an Oklahoma City woman long before DNA evidence identified him
- Dennis McCaslin
- Jun 23, 2025
- 1 min read
Nearly five decades after the brutal slaying of 68-year-old Lela Orr Johnston, the Oklahoma City Police Department closed one of its oldest cold cases thanks to a groundbreaking use of forensic genetic genealogy.
Johnston, a retired state welfare worker, was found murdered in her duplex on May 14, 1976. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled.
Despite extensive efforts at the time, the case went cold for decades.
In 2004, investigators developed a DNA profile from evidence collected at the scene. But the profile yielded no matches in CODIS, the FBI’s national DNA database.
In 2023, OKCPD partnered with DNA Labs International and genealogist Allison Martin-Krensky to explore private genealogy databases. By tracing familial DNA submitted voluntarily to sites like GEDmatch, they identified a suspect: Charles O. Droke, who was 28 at the time of the murder.
Droke had never been linked to the crime during his lifetime. In a tragic twist, he was shot and killed by his brother, Edwin, in 1989. Edwin first claimed Charles committed suicide, then later said he killed his brother in self-defense. He was convicted of the 1987 murder and died by suicide shortly after sentencing.
Investigators confirmed Droke’s identity by matching DNA from the Johnston crime scene to samples from his own murder investigation.
The Oklahoma City Police Department continues to work with forensic DNA experts to pursue justice in other unsolved crimes.
