Sunday, September 15, 2013

IN LOVING MEMORY OF CLAYTON CHANDLER (KILLER, MICHAEL BASCUM SELSOR EXECUTED IN OKLAHOMA ON MAY 1, 2012)



           On this date, September 15, 1975, Clayton Chandler was shot dead by Michael Bascum Selsor. Michael Bascum Selsor was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on May 1, 2012. 


Clayton Chandler

CASE: On September 15, 1975, a U-Tote-M store in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was robbed. One of the store employees, Clayton Chandler, was shot to death and the other, Ina Morris, was shot and wounded. Michael B. Selsor and Richard Dodson were arrested for the robbery and shootings. Selsor was charged in state court with robbery with firearms; shooting with intent to kill; and murder in the first degree. Dodson was charged with robbery with firearms, after former conviction of a felony; shooting with intent to kill, after former conviction of a felony; and murder in the first degree. 

At trial Ina Morris, the U-Tote-M employee wounded in the robbery, testified about the ordeal. She stated that she had gone into the store's walk-in cooler, and that while in there "a man walked up to the first window of the cooler and opened it up and looked at me." She said the man then walked around to the big walk-in door and pointed a revolver at her. He told her to get on her knees on the floor. She testified that she "just looked at him" because she "couldn't believe it." She said to the gunman "You've got to be kidding." The gunman then fired a shot at her, hitting her in the right shoulder. She got down on her knees. The gunman told her that if she looked up he would kill her. Three to five minutes later Morris raised her head and saw the gunman standing outside the window, holding both hands on the gun. She then saw him pull the trigger and heard the bullets hit the window. She ducked. She heard more than two bullets fired. Her body went numb. She lay down and lost consciousness. She was wounded in her right shoulder, on the right side of the back of her head, on top of her head, underneath her jaw, in her back and in her neck. Two bullets were left in her neck. Morris regained consciousness approximately five to seven minutes later. She walked north in the cooler and looked out to see Clayton Chandler lying on the floor of the U-Tote-M. Mr. Chandler died as a result of his injuries. 

Morris identified Dodson as the man who shot her. She gave no testimony about seeing any assailant other than Dodson, nor did she testify that she heard any shots other than those from Dodson. She did state, however, that the door to the walk-in cooler was closed and that she heard the cooler fan, a noise she described as "very loud." Ms. Morris was the only eyewitness to the crime and her testimony did not implicate Selsor. The evidence against Selsor instead was based on his and Dodson's confessions as presented through the testimony of two police officers, Officer Evans, a major crimes investigator for the Santa Barbara, California Police Department, and Officer Roberts of the Tulsa Police Department. Officer Evans testified that on September 22, 1975, he and a Sergeant Williams interviewed Dodson at the Santa Barbara Police Department. Officer Evans testified that Dodson stated that he and Selsor were driving a green '67 Pontiac.... He stated that they had been together in this car on the evening of September 15th around 11:00 P.M. and had passed by this U-TOTE-M store which he thought was located at 66th and 33rd, in that vicinity. He stated that both of them were in the car as they passed by this store a couple of times and Dodson stated that he noticed that the traffic was light around the store and the outlying area and that there was a light fog or something. He then stated that they both were armed. 

.... Q And, what did he say in that regard? A Dodson was armed with a nine shot .22 caliber revolver, black and silver and Mr. Selsor was armed with a .22 automatic Lugger Blackhawk. Q Now, did he say anything in regard to any plan concerning this matter on 33rd West Avenue other than what you have thus far related? A Yes, he did. Q What did he say in that regard? A He stated that prior to entering the store in a conversation with Selsor there was discussion of taking these people out. .... Q Did he ever indicate in the conversation what he meant by taking them out? A Later in the conversation it was shown that taking them out meant killing them. Q And, when you use the expression, taking these people out, did you know at the time he told you this who he had reference to? A By name or incident? Q Well, by perhaps position with the store? A Yes, meaning the proprietors of the store. 

Officer Evans also testified about an interview that he and a Detective Martin had with Selsor subsequent to the interview with Dodson. Officer Evans stated that Selsor said "that he and Dodson had approached the U-Tote-M store at 61st and 33rd Street and they were in a green '67 Pontiac which belonged to Selsor." Selsor stated that they "didn't intend to have any witnesses around and had planned on killing the proprietors after the robbery." Evans testified that Selsor said "that he was armed with a .22 caliber Lugger Blackhawk automatic, had a nine shot clip, and that Dodson was armed with a nine shot .22 caliber revolver." Officer Evans then recounted Selsor's description of the robbery: Selsor stated he demanded the money in a sack and he said the elderly gentleman complied and gave him the money from the cash drawer, the cash register and the safe. Selsor stated that he told the guy to quit piddling with the change as he was putting the money in, he wasn't interested in that. I asked Selsor what then occurred and he stated that he had off-set his position, showing me in the interview room, and fired several shots from this .22 automatic into the elderly man. According to Evans, Selsor "stated that all the bullets went into the chest area and it must have hit the heart." 

In addition to the testimony of Officer Evans, Officer D.A. Roberts of the Tulsa Police Department testified about a conversation he had with Dodson at the Tulsa County Jail on September 30, 1975. Officer Roberts said that We started the conversation off, I advised him I'd like to know how it went down and the order that it happened. He related it started with a conversation between himself and Selsor, that Selsor had said, We got to take out the witnesses involved in this case. .... At that time I asked him if he felt Selsor really meant that. He said, Well, he convinced me of it. He said, I thought he did, he looked serious. The state introduced the .22 caliber revolver used by Dodson. The .22 caliber automatic allegedly used by Selsor was not introduced. However, Officer Roberts testified that Dodson told him Selsor threw the gun into some body of water along Interstate 80. In addition, the state introduced spent shell casings recovered from the crime scene which an expert testified came from an automatic weapon. 

The defense made no opening statement. The only witness called by the defense was Dr. Garcia, a forensic psychiatrist from Eastern State Hospital at Vinita, Oklahoma, who testified only about Dodson's mental condition. The defense closing argument was brief, constituting a mere two pages of the trial transcript and in essence simply asserting that the jury should not take the defendants' lives. Selsor was convicted of armed robbery, shooting with intent to kill, and first degree murder. He was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for shooting with intent to kill, 25 years' imprisonment for armed robbery, and for the murder conviction, he was sentenced to death. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Selsor's convictions and sentences except the death sentence which was modified to life imprisonment. Dodson was convicted of shooting with intent to kill after former conviction of a felony and robbery with firearms after former conviction of a felony, but was acquitted of first degree murder. Dodson was sentenced to 199 years for shooting with intent to kill and 50 years for the armed robbery conviction. 

QUOTE: Debbie Huggins, one of Chandler's daughters, said her family has waited for almost 37 years for justice.

"Today, we got that justice," she said. "We're glad that it's finally over. Be at peace. The race is finally over."

She said she thought about her father as she watched Selsor die.

"This was much kinder what we did to him today than what he did to my dad," Huggins said.

AUTHOR: Debbie Huggins whose father, Clayton Chandler was murdered by Michael Bascum Selsor on September 15, 1975. Michael Bascum Selsor was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on May 1, 2012.

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