Sexual abuse allegations revealed in Norman slaying
NORMAN — Police say they became suspicious of a Norman man’s account of his daughter’s shooting death when they discovered he had moved the body prior to calling them and rolled in dirt to remove blood from his body, according to court documents.
An affidavit filed in a search warrant request at the Cleveland County Courthouse indicates Ronald Lee McMullen Jr., 43, continued rubbing dirt on his body even after officers ordered him to stop.
The affidavit also revealed allegations that Ronald McMullen had sexually abused his daughter years earlier.
McMullen is being held in the Cleveland County jail on a murder complaint in the June 29 death of Kailee Jo McMullen, 22, at the McMullen family residence in the 1700 block of Abe Martin Drive.
Kailee McMullen, a 2013 graduate of Norman North High School, was co-captain of the school’s varsity cheerleading squad. She briefly attended a Bible college in Baton Rouge, La., before returning to Norman, where she worked as an emergency medical technician.
Ronald McMullen initially told police in a 911 call about 5:45 a.m. June 29 that his daughter had shot herself in the face with a pistol and that she was “gone” and not breathing. In the recording of the phone call, he repeatedly says, “I don’t know, I don’t know what to do” in a distressed voice, at one point audibly crying.
Near the end of the sixminute call, a woman’s voice can be heard in the background screaming, “Oh, my God.” McMullen told the operator that his wife, later identified as Karen Ann McMullen, 41, had arrived and was performing CPR on their daughter.
According to the affidavit, officers arriving on the scene found Kailee McMullen dead with blood pooling around her head from an injury. Karen McMullen was attempting to give CPR to her daughter while Ronald McMullen was covered in blood that he continually tried to wipe off himself and the floor with a towel.
When officers asked McMullen what happened, he gave them a “blank stare” and said he did not know where the gun was, according to the affidavit. Police officers later saw a blood-covered .357-caliber revolver sitting on a side table.
Police say in the affidavit that McMullen and his daughter were alone in the house when the shooting occurred but that McMullen called his wife to tell her about the shooting before calling police.
McMullen had used a towel to wipe up blood in the kitchen, although the body was in the home’s entryway, police said in the affidavit. McMullen told the 911 operator that he had moved the body from where it originally was.
While trying to photograph McMullen, police state in the affidavit, the man continually tried to rub blood off his body despite their commands not to do so. At times, he had to be physically restrained to stop him, according to the affidavit.
After photos were taken, police say in the affidavit, McMullen “lay down in the dirt, and began covering himself in dirt while rubbing the shoes he was wearing on the concrete entryway.”
McMullen eventually dug a small hole while covering himself in dirt, according to the affidavit.
Police say in the affidavit that people who knew Kailee McMullen told officers that she had reported an argument in April in which her father had slapped her and her mother had pointed a gun at the man to get him to stop.
Two women, reported to be best friends of Kailee McMullen, told police that the woman had told them her father had molested her when she was younger, according to the affidavit. One friend told police that Kailee McMullen told them her father had touched her inappropriately within the last four months while she was staying at her parents’ home.
The affidavit also states that a police check of school records and Department of Human Services records indicates that an investigation had been conducted into allegations that he had inappropriately touched his daughter, although no charges were filed.