The Untold Story Of Bob And Nancy

The Untold Story Of Bob And Nancy“In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.” — George Washington

We all know about Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. There have been endless reports and opinion columns on the shooting of a young Black man by a neighborhood watchman who claimed it was done in self-defense. So called civil rights leaders have held rallies and demanded justice for Trayvon Martin even to the point of convicting George Zimmerman before he is ever brought to trial.

On the other hand there was a brutal sexual assault and double murder in Tulsa Oklahoma a few weeks ago that went virtually unreported in the main stream or national media.

On May 4^th Tulsa Police have confirmed that an elderly man, who with his wife was brutally beaten by intruders to his home in March, has died.

Bob Strait, 90, was critically injured in the March 13 assault, which took place in the 3300 block of East Virgin Street.

The couple was married 65 years before Nancy Strait, 85, died at a Tulsa hospital from wounds sustained in the beating.

On March 20, 2012 the Daily Mail reported on this brutal attack:

“An 85-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and battered to death by a home invader who also shot her 90-year-old husband in the face with a BB gun.

Nancy and Bob Strait, who had celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in December, were discovered by their daughter at their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Both the pensioners were rushed to hospital where Mrs. Strait, who was nearly blind, died from her injuries.

Mr. Strait, who served in the 101st Airborne Division in World War II, suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs and severe bleeding. He is in a serious condition in hospital. (Editor Note; Mr. Strait died from his wounds on May 4, 2012)

Police have arrested 20-year-old Tyrone Dale David Woodfork in connection with the case.

The Straits' distraught family today paid tribute to the pair, who grew up in poverty in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression.

They met each other on a blind date on Thanksgiving 1946, married a month later and went on to have six children, 18 grandchildren and about 50 great and great-great grandchildren. They had recently welcomed a great-great-great grandchild.”

…..

“Tulsa police believe burglars broke into the Straits' home either late Tuesday or early Wednesday last week. They were not found until the Wednesday evening.

The home invaders made off with their Dodge Neon, a television and $200.

Woodfork was later found hiding in a nearby house after a witness spotted the stolen vehicle being driven down the road.

He is being held at Tulsa Jail without bail accused of first-degree murder, burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of armed robbery.

'This investigation is far from over,' Officer Jason Willingham of the Tulsa police department told Tulsa World. 'We've still got a lot of questions that we still need answered.”

Even Snopes.com published a detailed report of this heinous crime on their truth or fiction web site.

Bob Strait was a paratrooper in World War II. He was with the 101st airborne where he was part of the D-day invasion. He was awarded the Bronze Star.

Nancy grew up in a log cabin in Kenwood, Oklahoma with no running water. She moved to Tulsa to work during the war.

The two met after the war ended.

"They met and three weeks later got married. Friday the 13th in 1946. They've been married 65 years and three months," said daughter Andra.

Nancy was a homemaker who made quilts and homemade jellies. Bob was a welder by trade and did woodworking for a hobby. The two did everything together; grocery shopping, doctor's visits, you name it.

They would do anything for anyone, which makes it so hard to understand why the men who kicked in their back door beat them so viciously just to take their TV, $200 and a bb gun. Nancy didn't make it. Bob had a broken jaw, cracked ribs and a bb lodged in his face, injuries from which he succumbed to on May 4^th.

Tyrone Woodfork, 19, is in custody. He lived just four houses from the Straits. He was on a suspended sentence for a 2010 burglary conviction. Police say they are looking for four or five more suspects.

This is another case of a newspaper in the United Kingdom reporting on a story that outside of the local Tulsa TV stations was not covered. Is it due to the race of the alleged killer or just that the story is not that important? Many people will say it is because this was a black on white crime and like the brutal attack of two reporters for the Virginia Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia the media did not want to “inflame passions” against Blacks. On the other hand a story of a mob of whites attacking a Black man and women would have made headlines in the national media for weeks as did the Trayvon Martin case.

The Rhino Den a local Tulsa blog reports:

“I do question, as the family does, whether they have the resources and support that they need from the Mayor’s office and town leadership. While we are researching this in earnest before embracing this belief, peripherally, Mayor Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr. does not seem very interested in responding to questions about the violent attacks on Nancy and Bob Strait. Ranger Up fans sending the mayor questions on Facebook have been ignored and blocked and emails sent to the mayor’s office have been ignored. The only response we have from anyone in Tulsa is from the police force, which simply has said, “We’re doing the best we can.”

I’m not sure why case is being brushed aside while others have gained prominence. Maybe the mayor’s office is concerned that this will be bad PR for Tulsa, maybe he doesn’t want to face criticism about adequate protection for the citizens of Tulsa prior to an election after he cut 142 police jobs, maybe he simply has incompetent staff running his websites, or maybe he and his staff have been watching too many television shows about veterans and they are afraid we’re gonna go all “PTSD” on them.

What is clear is that they seem to be dropping the ball and appear to be no closer to finding the people responsible for the brutal rape and murder of an 85 year old woman and the vicious beating of her D-Day veteran husband than they were a month ago. And that is completely unacceptable.”

We live in a time when the news media not only has a bias in their reporting they also have practice selective reporting of heinous crimes. The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman, Norfolk, Virginia, and Tulsa, Oklahoma are perfect examples of this. The Martin/Zimmerman case has been over reported while the Norfolk and Tulsa instances have been grossly under reported.

How tragic and sad it is for a man who parachuted into the flooded fields of Normandy on D-Day, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and won a Bronze Star to watch while his wife of 65 years is brutally beaten and sexually assaulted while he lays wounded from a savage beating at the hands of 19-year old punk.

This is and the Norfolk assaults are a perfect argument for the “Stand Your Ground” law. If two people are being carjacked or if man or woman is subjected to a home invasion by punks they should have the legal right to use any means of self-defense including blowing the head off of the perpetrators without fear of arrest and prosecution. Perhaps if more folks did this the punks would get the message and think twice about facing a Mossberg 500 or a Beretta M9.

The [accused] [animal] Tyrone Woodfork was caught driving the couple’s car around. And yes, Oklahoma has the death penalty, though some might find lethal injection a kinder gentler outcome than what Mr. Woodfork did to the couple, assuming of course he is found guilty.