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00:00They were supposed to be a normal suburban family, a quiet home on a tree-lined street

00:07in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. But what happened inside that house on July 22, 2015, would leave

00:14an entire nation shaken. This wasn't a robbery. It wasn't a tragic accident. This was a massacre.

00:20And the ones responsible? Not strangers, not outsiders, but two brothers, who grew up under

00:25the same roof as the victims. Welcome back to The Dark Stories, I'm your narrator and today we're

00:33diving into one of the most horrifying and baffling cases in modern American crime, the Bever family

00:39murders. Before we begin, please consider subscribing to the channel, hitting the like button, and turning

00:48on notifications. These small actions help us continue to bring you the most haunting and

00:53compelling true crime cases from around the world.

00:59Now, let's go back to that summer night in Oklahoma.

01:05It was just before midnight on July 22, 2015, when a chilling 9-1-1 call came through to the

01:14Broken Arrow Police Department. A young girl was whispering into the phone, barely audible,

01:19Crystal Beaver. My brother's attacking our family. He has a knife. Please help.

01:28It was 12-year-old Crystal Bever. She was bleeding, stabbed, barely conscious. But she had managed to

01:34escape the nightmare unfolding inside her home long enough to call for help. When officers arrived at

01:39the Bever residence, what they found was something straight out of a horror film. Blood trails leading

01:44through the house. Silence. And then movement. One of the younger children, 2-year-old Autumn, was found alive

01:51and unharmed in an upstairs room. But everyone else. The scene was a nightmare.

01:59The Bever family was by all appearances ordinary. David and April Bever were the parents of seven children.

02:06They homeschooled their kids and kept mostly to themselves. Neighbors described them as quiet and reclusive,

02:11but nothing alarming. No one suspected that anything dark was festering behind those walls.

02:19The children were, Robert Bever 18, Michael Bever 16, Daniel 12, Christopher 7, Victoria 5, Crystal 12,

02:26and Autumn 2. By the end of that night only Crystal and Autumn would survive.

02:34According to Crystal's harrowing account and later police interviews, the night of the murders began like

02:39any other, until it didn't. Robert and Michael lured their younger siblings one by one into a bedroom

02:45under the pretense of talking or playing. But behind that door they were armed with knives.

02:51And something much darker. A cold, calculated plan to take the lives of their entire family.

02:59It wasn't impulsive. This wasn't an emotional breakdown or a spur-of-the-moment rage.

03:04It was premeditated. Robert and Michael had been planning the murders for months. They wanted to

03:09be infamous. Inspired by high-profile mass attacks they had read about online, their goal was to become

03:15legends in the world of violence. What they envisioned was not just the massacre of their family.

03:21That was just the beginning. They planned to steal a vehicle, acquire firearms, and go on a nationwide

03:27killing spree. They even recorded their plans on a computer and kept detailed journals. Evidence that

03:33would later play a crucial role in the investigation. Officers found the bodies of five family members.

03:42All had been stabbed dozens of times. April Beaver had 48 stab wounds. David Bever had 28. Daniel fought

03:49hard. He managed to call out for help before being silenced. Christopher and Victoria, just seven and

03:55five years old, were defenseless. Crystal, despite her injuries, would survive and later testify in court.

04:00Her courage helped ensure justice was served. Robert and Michael were found shortly after the attack,

04:09hiding in the woods near their home, blood-stained, armed, and showing no signs of remorse. When

04:14questioned, their confessions were disturbingly calm. They admitted to everything. No tears, no guilt.

04:21Because Robert was 18 at the time of the murders, he was charged as an adult. Michael, only 16,

04:30was also charged as an adult under Oklahoma law. In court, the disturbing details of their plot were

04:37laid bare. The journals, the recordings, the complete lack of empathy.

04:41In 2016, Robert Bever pleaded guilty to all five murders to avoid the death penalty. He received

04:51five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Michael's case went to

04:56trial. His defense tried to argue that he had been manipulated by his older brother, that he was too

05:01young, too impressionable, but the jury didn't buy it. In 2018, Michael Bever was found guilty on all

05:07accounts. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 38 years.

05:15After the murders, the Bever home became a macabre symbol of tragedy. It stood empty for a time

05:20before being demolished. The land where the house once stood has since been transformed into a memorial

05:26park, a place of peace, honoring the five lives that were lost. Today, Crystal and Autumn live private

05:32lives, away from the spotlight. Crystal, now a young adult, has shown tremendous strength. Not just in

05:39surviving that night, but in continuing to live beyond it.

05:45The Bever family murders remain one of the most disturbing crimes in American history.

05:50Not just because of the brutality, but because of who committed it. Brothers. Sons. Family.

05:56It forces us to ask chilling questions. What causes such evil to take root in the minds of the young?

06:03Could anything have prevented it? And how do the survivors ever begin to heal?

06:07Thank you for joining us on this journey into one of the darkest stories of our time.

06:14If this story moved you, please consider subscribing to The Dark Stories, giving us a like and sharing this

06:20episode. Your support helps us bring light to the shadows, one story at a time.

06:25Let's hear a quick timeline of the horrifying events in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

06:31Before July 22, 2015, Robert and Michael Bever begin planning a large-scale killing spree,

06:38starting with their own family. Months leading up to July 22, 2015, Robert takes a job at a religious

06:47call center to fund weapons and tactical gear. The brothers collect knives, order body armor,

06:53and plan to acquire guns and ammunition. Their sister Crystal tells their parents about the

06:58suspicious activity, but nothing is done. Late evening, July 22, 2015, everyone in the

07:07Bever home is asleep except for April, Crystal and the brothers. Around 11.30pm on July 22, 2015,

07:16April tells Crystal to ask the boys to clean up. Crystal walks in to find them armed and suiting up.

07:22Moments later, the brutal attack begins. Crystal is slashed and stabbed but manages to flee before

07:28being dragged back inside. At 11.32pm, Daniel Bever, just 12 years old, calls 911. His terrified voice

07:37and screams are heard in the background. Minutes later, police arrive and hear faint cries for help.

07:44Inside, the scene is unimaginable. During the chaos, April is stabbed 48 times. Christopher and Victoria

07:53hide in a bathroom but are lured out and murdered. Daniel locks himself in an office but Michael tricks

07:58him into opening the door. He is then killed by Robert. David, the father, is also fatally stabbed

08:04when he emerges. After the attack, Robert and Michael flee to a wooded area nearby.

08:12At 12.18am on July 23, 2015, the brothers are found and arrested, covered in blood and dirt.

08:20July 25, 2015, Michael, 16 years old, is charged as an adult.

08:26July 31, 2015, both brothers are charged with five counts of first degree murder and one count of

08:34attempted murder. August 3, 2015, they plead not guilty. September 7, 2016, Robert changes course.

08:45He pleads guilty and is sentenced to six life sentences without parole. March 18, 2017,

08:52the Beaver home is destroyed in a fire. April 16, 2018, Michael Beaver's trial begins.

09:01May 9, 2018, the jury finds him guilty on all charges. August 9, 2018, Michael is sentenced to five

09:11consecutive life sentences plus 28 years. March 28, 2019, the site of the Beaver home is transformed into

09:20Reflection Park, a memorial to the victims. Robert attempts to assault two prison officers with a

09:27sharpened weapon. November 17, 2020, Robert receives three additional life terms for the prison attack,

09:35bringing his total to nine. Present day, Michael continues to appeal his sentence,

09:42arguing it is essentially life without parole. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denies his

09:48challenge, affirming his conviction. Now, let's dive into a deep discussion. Okay, let's unpack

09:54this. Children who kill their parents were only one percent of the homicides that are committed in

09:59the United States, so it's an unusual circumstance. That statistic, it really hits hard, doesn't it? It

10:06really does. It comes from a family counselor and it just throws into stark relief the case we're

10:12diving into today. Yeah, the Beaver family murders, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, July 22, 2015. It's one of

10:20those cases that just, it sticks with you. Hard to comprehend. Absolutely. It was incredibly shocking

10:25at the time and looking at the details again, it's still deeply unsettling. We're working from news

10:31reports you shared and also that Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals opinion, which is quite detailed.

10:36Right. And our goal here isn't just to list facts. We want to, you know, really try and understand the

10:40anatomy of this whole tragedy, what happened that night, the motivations, if you can even call them

10:46that, and the legal side too. Exactly. A comprehensive look. And you mentioned the sources, news reports,

10:51the court documents. We should probably mention sometimes the initial reports had slightly

10:55different details than what came out later in court. That happens, yeah. It does. So we'll navigate that,

11:00but mostly lean on the court's findings for the established facts. Okay. So where do we even start

11:05with something this dark? Well, I think the logical place, though it's grim, is the crime scene itself.

11:12The what, where, and who. So July 22, 2015, their home in Broken Arrow. And it kicked off with that 9-1-1 call

11:21made by 12-year-old Daniel Bever. Just incredible bravery in that moment. Absolutely terrifying moment. Yeah.

11:27The dispatcher's notes. They're haunting. Some commotion and multiple PPL. A lot of screaming.

11:34Someone trying to be quiet and crying. You can just feel the chaos. And Daniel's last words on that call.

11:40Michael, please don't murder me. Then the line went dead. It just sends a chill down your spine.

11:44It really does. That call is such a critical, heartbreaking piece of this. It tells you so

11:48much about the terror inside that house. And the victims. It's just a devastating list.

11:52The mother, April Bever, 48 stab wounds. She was considered the primary target. That's what

11:57the investigation suggested, yes. Yeah. The sheer number of wounds. Yeah. 48. It's horrific. And the

12:03father, David Bever, 28 stab wounds. Then the children. Daniel, who made the call, 12 years old,

12:0921 stab wounds. Christopher, only seven, also 21 stab wounds. And Victoria, just five years old,

12:1623 stab wounds. It's almost impossible to say those numbers. And then there's Crystal,

12:20the 13-year-old sister. Her survival is, frankly, miraculous. A slit throat, multiple stab wounds.

12:28Yeah. But she lived. And she identified her brothers. Her testimony must have been crucial.

12:33Just astounding resilience. Truly. And we also have the youngest, Autumn, only 23 months old.

12:38Found unharmed upstairs. But the plan for her, I mean... Yeah, the reports indicate the plan was to

12:43decapitate her with an axe. Yeah. It's monstrous. Daniel's 911 call, it seems, disrupted their timeline.

12:48Thank God for that call. So the total number of stab wounds, initial reports said over 100.

12:52Yes. And one source later specified 141 across all the victims who were stabbed. Just an unbelievable

12:59level of violence. And it wasn't. They weren't passive victims. The reports mentioned defense

13:02wounds. That's right. Several victims had wounds indicating they fought back. They struggled for

13:07their lives. Yeah. You also see the mention of defibrillator pads found on April and Christopher.

13:12Yeah. It speaks to the scene first responders found. Desperate attempts to save them. Sadly

13:18unsuccessful. Just utter devastation. So the perpetrators, their own sons, Robert Davis Beaver,

13:2418 at the time, and Michael John Beaver, just 16. It's the core shocking element, isn't it? The

13:30violence coming from within the family. And the family background. Sources mentioned they were

13:34very isolated, homeschooled. Yes. Neighbors reported the family was quite reclusive. The kids didn't

13:40really play outside, weren't seeing much. Some neighbors apparently didn't even know all their

13:44names. That kind of isolation, it can really warp things, can it? It certainly can. Lack of outside

13:50interactions, social norms. It can create an environment where extreme ideas might develop

13:56without challenge. And the motives. This is where it gets, I think, even more disturbing,

14:00if that's possible. It wasn't just anger, was it? No, not according to the investigation and

14:04confessions. It seems to have been driven by this chilling desire for fame. Infamy, really. Like

14:11they wanted to be more famous than other mass killers. Columbine, Aurora. Exactly. They reportedly

14:18aimed for a huge body count, maybe 50. Some sources even mentioned 500. They saw this as just the

14:25start. Just the start. What else were they planning? The cross-country killing spree after murdering the

14:30family. It was all part of this grand, horrific fantasy. Good lord. And the plan for the bodies.

14:36Gruesome. Dismemberment, hiding them in the attic. And they planned to film it. Or parts of it. Two

14:42videos, apparently. One for the police showing the bodies. Another without the bodies to post online.

14:47It's just calculated and cold. What about the specific reasons? Michael was excitement seeking.

14:54Robert hated society. Those were the motivations mentioned, yes. Michael seeking thrills. Robert

14:59driven by a sort of generalized hatred. It points to very different but equally disturbing mindsets.

15:05And the preparation. This wasn't spontaneous. Not at all. They'd been collecting body armor,

15:09knives, for months. Yes. And they'd ordered firearms guns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition. Delivery was

15:16scheduled for the day after the murders. Wow. So they were waiting for the guns to continue the spree.

15:20It seems that way. They also found a hatchet, darts, a surgical blade in the house. Robert even got a job

15:27specifically to save money for weapons. The level of premeditation is just staggering. And didn't

15:33Michael say something to Crystal beforehand? Yes, about a year prior. He allegedly asked her if she

15:39wanted in. Like, inviting her into the plan. And she told her parents. She did. According to the reports,

15:44she told her parents. But seemingly no significant action was taken. That's just heartbreaking. A

15:51potential warning sign. Missed. It's a deeply troubling aspect. It raises so many questions

15:56about what was going on inside that house long before the murders. So let's walk through the night

16:00itself. July 22nd. Late evening, most of the family is in bed. Right. Except Robert, Michael, April,

16:07and Crystal. It's around 1130 PM. And April asks Crystal to tell the boys to do the dishes. Such

16:13a normal, everyday request. That mundane request becomes the trigger. Crystal goes to their room,

16:18finds them putting on body armor, knives laid out. And Michael just asks, should we do it right now?

16:23And Robert says, yes. Just like that. Chillingly ready. Then the attack on Crystal. Michael lures her

16:29over to look at his computer. And Robert comes up behind her and slits her throat. She fights back

16:35incredibly screaming, running. But they drag her back inside, stab her repeatedly. Her survival is just

16:43unbelievable. Absolutely. Her ability to fight, to escape momentarily, and ultimately to survive and

16:49testify. It's remarkable. Then their mother, April, she fought back aggressively, the court opinion says.

16:56Yes. She clearly struggled against them, but suffered around 48 stab wounds. Just horrific. And then the

17:02younger siblings, Christopher and Victoria. They had hidden in the bathroom, locked the door. Robert

17:07asked where they were. And Michael used that awful trick. Yeah. Knocking, pretending he was in danger

17:11from Robert. Let me in. He's going to kill me. And one of them opened the door. Tragically, yes.

17:17Michael then stabbed both seven-year-old Christopher and five-year-old Victoria to death. The betrayal,

17:23it's sickening. Then Daniel, 12 years old, locked in his father's office. Michael used the same

17:29ruse again, pretending Robert was after him. Daniel opens the door. And Michael says to Robert,

17:34he's all yours. Robert then stabbed Daniel. And the father, David. He came out of his room and Robert

17:42attacked him, stabbing him repeatedly. So it's just one after another, a methodical slaughter. Yes.

17:49And during all this, Michael had apparently disabled the home alarm system. But Daniel,

17:53Daniel managed to make that 911 call using Michael's phone, right? That's right. An incredible act of

17:59courage in his final moments. Michael then realized and smashed the phone. But it was too late. The

18:04call went through. That call saved Autumn, likely, and led to their capture. Absolutely. After the

18:09killings, the brothers fled out the back, towards a creek area. Police arrived very quickly, alerted by

18:14that call, around 11.30 p.m. And inside, amidst all that horror, they find baby Autumn, asleep, unharmed.

18:22Yes. Robert later testified they'd planned to kill her too. Decapitation. But they essentially forgot

18:27about her in the melee, as the court put it. Forgot about her. Just chilling. It is. Police and

18:33canine units found the brothers hiding near the creek soon after. Robert still had a knife. Michael

18:38was under a bush. So the immediate horror was over, but the legal process was just beginning.

18:43Robert pleaded guilty pretty quickly, didn't he? He did. September 7, 2016. Pleaded guilty to all five

18:50murders and the assault on Crystal. Yeah, his sentence. Six consecutive life sentences

18:55without the possibility of parole. Five for the murders, one for the attempted murder.

19:00Consecutive meaning he serves them one after another. He's never getting out.

19:03Right. But Michael, being 16, his case was different. He went to trial. He did. He was

19:08found guilty on all counts in May 2018. Sentencing was in August 2018. And he got life sentences too,

19:14but with the possibility of parole, plus extra time for the assault. Correct. Five consecutive life

19:20sentences with parole possible, plus 28 years for the assault on Crystal. But here's the crucial part.

19:26The consecutive nature. Right. Because serving them one after another means,

19:30well, how long would he actually have to serve before parole? Effectively, forever. The calculation

19:36puts his parole eligibility somewhere around the year 2233. He'd be 235 years old. So functionally,

19:43it's life without parole, even though it's technically not labeled that way. Exactly. And

19:47this is where it gets legally complex, especially because he was a juvenile. There's a major Supreme

19:52Court case, Miller v. Alabama. What did that establish? It said mandatory life without parole

19:58sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional. And even discretionary ones require a specific finding

20:05that the juvenile offender is, quote, permanently incorrigible or irreparably corrupt, essentially

20:11beyond hope of rehabilitation. Did the jury find that Michael was permanently incorrigible? No,

20:16they didn't. The jury instructions based on Miller required that finding for a sentence of life

20:21without parole. Since they recommended life with parole possible, they implicitly did not find him

20:26permanently incorrigible. But the judge stacked the sentences consecutively, making parole impossible

20:32anyway. Precisely. And the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld this. Their reasoning was that you

20:38look at each sentence individually under the Eighth Amendment, cruel and unusual punishment. And the

20:43state doesn't have to guarantee a juvenile eventual freedom. But wasn't there dissent? Some judges

20:49disagreed. Yes, strongly. Judges Lewis and Kuhn dissented. They argued that the effect of the

20:55consecutive sentences is life without parole, functionally speaking. So it contradicts the jury's

21:00finding and the spirit of the Miller ruling. That was your argument. Judge Kuhn pointed out that the

21:05parole board treats a life sentence as 45 calendar years in Oklahoma. So five times 45 years plus the

21:1128. It's over 200 years before he'd even be considered. So the dissenters felt the judge basically

21:17did an end run around the Miller requirements and the jury's decision. That's the essence of their

21:22dissent, yes. It's a really significant legal debate about juvenile sentencing in cases with multiple

21:27counts. Does the total time matter or just each individual sentence? The majority focused on the

21:32individual sentences. The dissent focused on the cumulative practical effect on a juvenile's

21:37lifespan. And Robert, there was more trouble from him in prison. Yes, in 2019 he attempted an attack

21:43on prison officers. Slashed one with a makeshift weapon. That resulted in three more life sentences

21:49added on. Wow. So zero chance of him ever changing it seems. Where are they now? Robert's at the maximum

21:55security Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Michael's at Lexington Correctional Center. The aftermath. The house

22:01itself became kind of a morbid spectacle, didn't it? It did, sadly. It's sad vacant, declared a

22:06biohazard. People actually visited it like dark tourism. It was called Broken Arrows Amityville Horror

22:12House. That's grim. What happened to it? It was eventually demolished by fire in March 2017,

22:17but later in 2019 something positive came from the site. Oh. Reflection Park. A memorial was dedicated

22:23there. A community effort to reclaim the space and remember the victims. That's good to hear. A space for

22:29healing. We mentioned Missy Asusky, the counselor, earlier. What were her thoughts on why kids might

22:33do this? She mentioned three general categories, though it's rare. Severely mentally ill, severely

22:38abused, or antisocial. She also noted factors like family dysfunction, isolation, and how stabbings can

22:47sometimes be impulsive, escalating quickly. And the ages 16 and 18 may be a factor in wanting

22:52independence, however distorted. Makes sense. And Dr. Todd Grande, the psychologist,

22:58he had some specific thoughts. He did. He raised the possibility of a shared psychotic disorder,

23:03folia du, like two people sharing the same delusion. With Robert being the primary one

23:08influencing Michael. That was the suggestion, potentially. He pointed to Robert's later

23:13diagnoses in prison, major depression with psychotic features, PTSD, borderline personality

23:18disorder, even medication for schizophrenia. So serious mental health issues seemed present in

23:23Robert. And Michael. Dr. Grande noted Michael's lower IQ score around 83. But the dynamic. It's

23:29hard to say definitively if Robert was purely dominant. Michael had his own stated motive of

23:34excitement. Right. It could have been reciprocal feeding off each other. Possibly. Dr. Grande was

23:39also critical of the judge's consecutive sentencing for Michael. Arguing kind of ignored the jury's

23:44implicit finding that maybe he wasn't beyond redemption. You know, that he should have at least a

23:49theoretical chance someday. Yeah. That legal point keeps coming back. And there was that notebook

23:53Michael kept. Oh, yeah. That was chilling. Found in his jail cell. A red notebook. What'd it say?

23:59A crayon drawing. And the words. Once upon a time, there were two brothers named Michael and Robert.

24:05They hated their family, so they killed them. The end. Just stark. Simple and utterly horrifying.

24:11Gives you a glimpse into that mindset. It really does. And the case got a lot of media coverage,

24:15naturally. Dateline. Other true crime shows. That 911 call was released publicly in 2022.

24:21So looking back at everything. Yeah. What really stands out. The planning. The brutality.

24:26All of that. The meticulous planning is shocking. The sheer brutality. The number of wounds against

24:32their own family, including young children. The ages involved. Both perpetrators and victims.

24:37And that bizarre chilling motive. The desire for fame. For notoriety. It's just layers of darkness.

24:43And the complexities, too. The legal arguments about juvenile sentencing,

24:47Miller v. Alabama, consecutive terms. It raises huge questions. Definitely. And the potential role

24:54in mental health. The isolation. The missed warning signs like Crystal's report. Yeah. It's a confluence

25:00of tragic factors. You wonder if intervention was possible at any point. It really makes you think,

25:05doesn't it? The loss of this family. The fact their own kids did it. What does a case like this really

25:10tell us about? Well, about families. Isolation. The absolute worst possibilities of the human mind.

25:18It forces you to confront uncomfortable questions. There aren't easy answers. It highlights the

25:23devastating consequences when family dynamics break down so catastrophically, perhaps combined

25:28with severe psychological issues and isolation. So for you listening, maybe think about those layers.

25:33The family tragedy. The horrific acts. The lingering questions. Does it make you think differently

25:38about juvenile justice? About recognizing warning signs? Maybe look into Folia Doe or the Miller case.

25:44It's a deeply distorting story, but one that maybe holds some difficult lessons.

25:52Until next time, stay safe, stay curious, and stay aware.

Bever Brothers Family Massacre | Broken Arrow Murders (2015)

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