True Crime Chronicles: The heinous murder 0f a Howe couple in 2000 took thirteen years for justice to be served
- Dennis McCaslin
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
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iN the quiet community of Howe in LeFlore County,, Curtis and Gloria Plummer lived the kind of simple, respected life that defined small town America at the turn of the century.
Curtis, known affectionately as Papa to his large extended family, was a 73-year-old retired businessman who had built and then sold a successful beverage distributorship. He owned substantial land in the county and stayed active in his church. Gloria, or Mama Glo as everyone called her, was 70 and the warm-hearted partner who helped anchor their rural home southeast of Poteau near the small town of Howe.
On the evening of October 2, 2000, the couple settled into an ordinary Monday night. Curtis watched Monday Night Football in the den while Gloria moved about their comfortable house, the kind of place with a security system that rarely saw trouble.
That changed around 9:00 p.m. when James Lewis DeRosa and his accomplice John Eric Castleberry, arrived at the door. DeRosa, a 23-year-old who had once worked as a ranch hand for the Plummers, knew the layout of the property well. He and Castleberry, neither wearing masks or disguises, rang the bell and talked their way inside under the pretense of inquiring about more work opportunities.
The Plummers, trusting and familiar with DeRosa, let them in. After a few minutes of casual conversation in the den, the visit turned horrific. DeRosa pulled a knife and held it to Curtis Plummers' neck, ordering him to sit still. When Gloria reached for the cordless phone to call for help, Castleberry yanked the base from the wall and pressed his own knife to her neck, demanding she stay put.
What followed was a brutal robbery that ended in murder. The two men attacked the elderly couple, stabbing them repeatedly in a frenzied assault. Medical examiner testimony later revealed the extent of the violence. Gloria Plummer suffered an incised wound to her upper neck. Curtis endured six separate stab wounds, two of which pierced his lungs, along with a devastating seven-inch incised wound across his neck that severed his trachea, windpipe, esophagus, carotid arteries, and jugular veins.
He also sustained blunt force trauma to the left side of his head after DeRosa hurled a marble-topped end table onto him. The couple struggled desperately, but the attackers left them dead on the floor in pools of blood. DeRosa and Castleberry ransacked the home, stealing about 73 dollars in cash before fleeing in the Plummers tan 1998 Chevrolet pickup truck. They abandoned the vehicle at a nearby lake.
The bodies were discovered the next day, October 3, 2000. News of the killings spread quickly through LeFlore County. The Plummers were well known and well regarded, and the rural home showed clear signs of a robbery turned homicide. Investigators soon connected the crime to DeRosa, who had been seen in the area.
He was arrested three days later. Castleberry, facing his own charges, eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in July 2001. In exchange for testifying against DeRosa, he received life in prison without the possibility of parole. A third individual involved in the events that night provided additional statements to police
.DeRosa went to trial in LeFlore County District Court in November 2001. A jury convicted him on two counts of first-degree felony murder, with the underlying felony being robbery with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors presented overwhelming evidence, including
Castleberry's testimony detailing how the pair had planned the visit, forced their way into the attack, and carried out the stabbings. The jury found two aggravating circumstances: the murders were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, and they were committed to avoid or prevent a lawful arrest or prosecution.
After deliberating, the panel recommended death on both counts. The judge formally sentenced DeRosa to die by lethal injection.
Over the next decade, DeRosa pursued appeals, but the convictions and sentences held firm. At a clemency hearing shortly before his execution, he finally took responsibility for his role in the crimes. On June 18, 2013, at the age of 36, James Lewis DeRosa was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
He declined a last meal and offered no final statement. Witnesses reported that he took three heavy breaths, his face turned ashen, and he stopped breathing at 6:07 p.m.The Plummer family, left to pick up the pieces of a senseless loss, spoke of the enduring pain.
One relative later described the ongoing struggle to move forward while honoring the memory of the couple who had meant so much to their community. The case stood as a stark reminder of how quickly violence could shatter the peace of rural Oklahoma life.
For LeFlore County residents who remembered Papa and Mama Glo, the double murder remained a wound that never fully healed, a brutal chapter in the countys history that ended with justice delivered more than a dozen years after that fateful October night.
Explore DeRosa's appeals process
