Probe uncovers grisly trade... KIDDIE BONES ‘FOR SALE ON ‘
Grissom drifted towards alcohol and marijuana between the ages of 17 and 19. Hard drugs soon followed.
By the time he was 20 he was burgling homes to pay for his substance abuse, spending years in jail because of it.
By 2002, Grissom had left prison and qualified as a commercial truck driver, following in the footsteps of his beloved father, Bobby.
It was at this point that Grissom also met and married his wife, Barbara.
But the pairing was a marriage made in hell. Their “disastrous and chaotic” relationship, which ended in 2004, was the source of yet further anguish and depression for Grissom.
By early November, 2005, he was once again looking for cash to score drugs and booze.
As he drove his truck along the highway, he picked up a hitch-hiker, Jessie Johns, who ended up being implicated in Amber’s murder.
Court records reveal: “The pair drove into rural Blaine County looking for a house to burglarise.
“Grissom ultimately parked his truck in the driveway of the residence of Matt and Lauren Kopf, near Hitchcock, in rural Blaine County. Grissom approached a sliding door at the rear of the residence and knocked.
“Lauren was inside her home that morning with her best friend, Amber Matthews, and her two young children, 18-month-old Rylie and infant Gracie Jo.
“Rylie was in her crib in the bedroom and Lauren was holding Gracie Jo.
“Amber answered the sliding glass door as Lauren turned in her glider chair to speak with Grissom.
“He asked Lauren if her husband was home. When she replied that he was at work, Grissom told her he would come back later.
“Amber closed the door but, seconds later, Grissom reappeared.
“Lauren handed the baby to Amber and went to the door again.
“At that point Grissom shot a pistol round into the large glass pane and shattered it.
“He then stepped into the residence and fired a second shot at Lauren, striking her in the hand.”
In her own testimony, Lauren described the sheer panic of the situation.
She told the jury: “When he left, we only got a few words out before Amber said that man was at my back door again.
“Next thing, the patio door just shattered.
“I begged him to stop. I told him that I had kids, that he could have anything he wanted.
“He just laughed. I repeated myself and he laughed more.”
Amber ran with the baby into Rylie’s bedroom while Lauren fought with Grissom.
The court records add: “While Lauren was fighting with Grissom, she begged him to take what he wanted and leave. He just laughed at her as he pulled the black pistol from his waist and put it to her head.
“She tried to grab at the weapon but he fired it. A bullet tore through her hand and struck the side of her head, fracturing her skull.
“Grissom stuck the pistol against her hip and fired again. The force of this shot threw Lauren on to the floor.”
Thinking he’d killed Lauren, Grissom then turned his attention to Amber.
In heartbreaking testimony, Lauren said:
SICK: Wendell Grissom ( was looking for money to feed his addiction to booze and drugs.
“I heard Amber and my kids screaming.
“Amber shouted, ‘Please don’t shoot me’, then I heard another gunshot.”
Lauren, sick to the pit of her stomach knowing she was leaving her children in the house, somehow dragged herself to the garage. Grissom’s accomplice, Jessie Johns, made his way into the house as Lauren got into Grissom’s own truck and drove off in a bid to summon help.
The court files state: “Not far from her house, Lauren flagged down a trio of truckers hauling rock and told them her friend and children were dead and she had been shot.
“One of the truckers, himself a retired police officer, got into the truck with Lauren.
“He reported the shooting by phone to the Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office and drove Lauren to the hospital in nearby Watonga.”
Grissom and Johns fled the scene on a red quad bike – which soon ran out of petrol.
The pair were finally picked up by police drinking beer hidden in undergrowth near a local cafe.
Amber, meanwhile, was still clinging to life when police got to the property.
She tragically died during the emergency flight to an Oklahoma City hospital.
At his trial, Bobbie and Mary Grissom begged with the court to spare their son’s life.
His lawyers made him out to be “a very sick, lost man” who was “extremely depressed”.
But their pleas fell on deaf ears and Grissom now awaits his lethal injection.
BONE collectors have been using hidden Facebook groups to swap grisly human remains.
The social media giant is investigating claims that people are using private groups to buy and sell human body parts including skulls – and even a mummified six-year-old child.
While the company has a policy that bans the “buying or selling of human body parts or fluids”, some users appear to have got round it by taking advantage of the site’s private groups feature.
Many of the remains listed are claimed to be from archaeological or historical sites around the world. international law, and a threat to governmental and academic efforts to preserve artefacts at archaeological sites.
Among a wide range of listings, one user was attempting to sell a mummified six-year-old child for nearly £10,000, claiming it dated back to the 1700s.
A separate listing described an elongated skull claimed to have come from Peru, on sale for £9,000.
Illicit markets for human organs and remains have also quietly emerged on eBay and Instagram, prompting fears that social media is helping to popularise a formerly very rare hobby.