True Crime Chronicles: Loose lips in a jail cell led to the arrest of three in 2014 Delaware County murder

Dustin Ray Carver,

Dustin Ray Carver, a 20-year-old man known to friends as Ray Ray, vanished in early 2014 from Kansas, Oklahoma, a small community in Delaware County near the Missouri border.

He was last seen on March 3, 2014, at a residence in the area. His disappearance prompted a missing persons report from his girlfriend on March 21. Investigators from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation searched properties linked to him. They executed a warrant at one rural location and discovered human remains in a burn pile.

The remains were sent to the state medical examiner’s office for identification and processing.

The case remained unsolved for more than a decade. No immediate arrests followed the grim discovery, and it turned cold despite ongoing efforts.

The breakthrough arrived in July 2025. The Clinton County, Missouri, Sheriff’s Office contacted Delaware County authorities with information from an inmate. That inmate had shared a cell with James Merritt Larson Jr., who allegedly confessed details of the killing and showed a photo from an OSBI missing persons page identifying Carver as the victim.

On September 12, 2025, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office issued arrest warrants charging James Merritt Larson Jr., then 42, and his estranged wife Penny Kay Larson, then 40, both from Cameron, Missouri, with first-degree murder. Penny Larson was arrested on September 17 and booked into the Clinton County Jail pending extradition to Oklahoma. James Larson was already incarcerated in Missouri on unrelated stealing and drug charges.

A third suspect, Bradley Wayne Majors, 31, was later charged with first-degree murder as well. Court records and testimony indicate Majors knew Carver from high school football.

Preliminary hearings in late 2025 and early 2026 revealed disturbing accounts. According to probable cause affidavits and testimony, James Larson confronted Carver over an alleged rape of Penny Larson. Evidence later showed Penny fabricated or exaggerated the claim.

She reportedly told her husband that Carver had raped her, prompting the violent response. One witness account described Penny yelling Carver’s name during an assault on herself to stop James from beating her, suggesting the rape allegation was false.

Testimony indicated that James Larson tortured Carver, slit his throat, and placed the body in a burn pile. A former cellmate quoted James as admitting he “tortured the guy, slit his throat and put him in a burn pile.” Penny Larson and Bradley Majors allegedly admitted to using methamphetamine before and after the killing.

The group allegedly attempted to destroy all evidence by burning the remains, leaving primarily bone fragments and teeth for investigators to recover.

As of January 2026, all three defendants — James Merritt Larson Jr., Penny Kay Larson, and Bradley Wayne Majors -- faced ongoing proceedings in Delaware County District Court in Jay, Oklahoma. They appeared for preliminary hearings, with additional court dates scheduled into February 2026 for James Larson. Prosecutors continued presenting evidence in the case.

James Larson remained in custody in Missouri with an out-of-state hold. Penny Larson faced extradition processes after her arrest in Missouri. The case, once stalled for over 11 years, moved forward based on the inmate tip, corroborating physical evidence from the burn pile, and statements from those involved.

The murder of Dustin Ray Carver highlights how a single jailhouse confession can revive a long-dormant investigation in a rural county. For Carver’s family and friends, the charges brought some measure of accountability after years of uncertainty. The proceedings continue as the justice system addresses the brutal details of a crime that began with a lie and ended in fire.