A 19-year-old Oklahoma woman faces the rest of her life in prison after she and her boyfriend murdered her grandparents “because she wanted them dead.”
Heidi Dutton, who was 17 at the time of the murders, received a life sentence on Friday for the murders of Larry Dutton, 73, and Deborah Dutton, 67. The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, desecration of a corpse, and conspiracy to commit murder. She must serve 85% of a 45-year sentence — slightly more than 38 years — before being eligible for parole.
Her boyfriend, Lucas Anthony Walker, 22, was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison because he is a Cherokee Nation citizen.
“This was a calculated and brutal crime, but the law requires us to weigh youth against culpability,” Washington County District Attorney Will Drake said in a statement. “This sentence holds Heidi Dutton accountable, mirrors the sentence imposed on her co-defendant, and spares the victims’ family the trauma of trial and years of appeals.”
Authorities say Dutton and Walker murdered her grandparents a few days before Christmas in 2022. Neighbors and family members became concerned about the victims after not hearing from them and called police to conduct a welfare check at their home in Dewey, about 50 miles north of Tulsa. According to the federal complaint, deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office searched the home on January 20, 2023, and discovered the elder Duttons buried in a shallow grave in the backyard.
“[Dutton] was determined to be the adopted daughter, and biological granddaughter, of the two victims,” according to the charge.
Blood had been removed from the victims’ bedrooms, but some had seeped into the floorboards. During police interviews, both suspects admitted to killing the victims. Heidi Dutton claimed her boyfriend murdered her grandparents at her behest.
Walker told investigators that he entered the Dutton home on December 19, 2022, while the victims slept. He retrieved a.22 caliber pistol from the house and waited in his girlfriend’s bedroom until he heard noises coming from the victims’ room. He waited outside the bedroom for Deborah Dutton to open the door. Authorities said Walker then shot her in the face.
Larry Dutton got out of bed and rushed Walker, who attempted to open fire but the gun jammed. Walker took out a knife and stabbed him repeatedly in the face, chest, and stomach. He also stabbed Deborah Dutton.
The defendants then wrapped the victims’ bodies in sheets and carried them out to the backyard, where they were buried in shallow graves. Ring camera footage shows the couple carrying at least one victim together.
In terms of motivation, Dutton only stated that “she wanted them dead,” according to the Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise, citing court documents and preliminary hearing testimony.
“We kill them,” she reportedly stated.
According to his obituary, Larry Dutton was a retired Master Staff Sgt. in the United States Air Force and the former manager of the Lt. William M. Milliken Airport in Eureka, Kansas.
His wife was originally from Tennessee, a retired Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force, and a former chef.
