Man Sentenced for Killing Girlfriend's Grandparents, Whose Bodies Were Buried in Their Own Backyard

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Washington County Sheriff’s Office; Livingston Funeral Home

Washington County Sheriff’s Office; Livingston Funeral Home

An Oklahoma man was sentenced last week for murdering his girlfriend’s grandparents and burying them in their backyard.

Lucas Anthony Walker, 22, will serve 35 years in prison for the 2022 killing of Deborah and Larry Dutton, the grandparents of his girlfriend Heidi Dutton. Walker had confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.

Per a criminal complaint filed in Oklahoma federal court, on Dec. 19, 2022, Walker grabbed a .22 caliber handgun from a gun safe in the Duttons' garage at their home in Dewey, about 45 miles north of Tulsa. He then waited outside the couple’s bedroom.

When Deborah opened the door, Walker shot her and then slit her throat when she fell to the ground. Larry then jumped out of bed and rushed at Walker, whose pistol had jammed. Walker then stabbed Larry in the face, chest and stomach.

When police later searched the house, they unlocked Larry’s cell phone and discovered footage from a Ring security camera, allegedly showing Walker and Heidi dragging a body wrapped in a sheet out of the home.

They also found blood in the Duttons' bedroom, which Walker had attempted to clean up but had seeped through the baseboards.

Meanwhile, an anthropologist from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation called to the scene recommended that a patch of “disturbed” dirt be exhumed to search for the Duttons' bodies; they were later discovered in the backyard.

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Both Walker and Heidi were arrested, and they each confessed to the crime, the complaint alleges.

According to an affidavit, Heidi allegedly told investigators the killings were her idea, claiming she’d told Walker she “wanted them dead,” according to theBartlesvilleExaminer-Enterprise.

“I think they both kind of wanted to run off together,” Washington County District Attorney Will Drake tells PEOPLE, noting that the couple nonetheless ended up staying in the Dewey home “playing house.”

Larry Dutton, 73, was a retired Master Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and former manager of Lt. William M. Milliken Airport in Eureka, Kan, per anobituary for the couple. He “had a big heart and would give anyone the shirt off his back,” one friend of his remembered in a funeral guestbook entry.

His wife Deborah was a retired Staff Sergeant in the Air Force and had also worked as a chef.

Heidi, who was 17 at the time of the killings, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of conspiracy, and two counts of desecrating a corpse, per state court records.

Court records state that Heidi waived a jury trial, and that a plea and sentencing hearing is scheduled for her for March 5. Drake, the Washington County DA, confirmed to PEOPLE that Heidi has not yet entered a plea pending a hearing on allegations of physical abuse she has made against her grandparents, which could potentially lead to a significant reduction in her sentence.

A message left for Heidi’s attorney was not immediately returned.

source: people.com