A triple murder suspect broke down in tears in an Oklahoma courtroom as a prosecutor detailed how he cut out the heart of one of his victims, cooked it with potatoes, and fed it to his relatives before trying to kill them too.
Lawrence Paul Anderson, 42, confessed to breaking into 41-year-old Andrea Lynn Blankenship’s home in Chickasha, Oklahoma, on Feb. 12 by breaking down her back door with his shoulder. He then allegedly confessed to killing her and cutting out her heart, taking it across the street to his aunt and uncle’s home and sauteing it with potatoes. He then tried to force them to eat it to “release the demons” before he fatally attacked his uncle and nearly killed his aunt. He is also charged with murdering their 4-year old granddaughter Kaeos Yates.
Police confiscated the cooking pans used in the alleged crime, including a pan with food still inside.
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Anderson could be heard crying and repeating, “Oh God, Oh God,” during his arraignment on Tuesday. He also said he did not want to be bailed out. ”I don't want no bail, your honor. I don't want no bail,” he told Grady County Special Judge Regina Lowe.
He faces three counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon and one count of maiming. Cannibalism is not a crime in Oklahoma, so there will be no additional charges for feeding the neighbor to his relatives, Leon and Delsie Pye.
Anderson is a repeat offender who was released from prison in January after Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt commuted his sentence from 20 years to nine years for drugs and other related crimes. He had listed his aunt and uncle’s home as his post-incarceration address without their consent but had only visited once. “They were surprised to see him just show up, that he was out. They had no prior knowledge that he was being released and they had never consented to him listing their address as his home,” Oklahoma City attorney Robert Wagner told the court, according to The Oklahoman.
Haylee Blankenship, Andrea Blankenship’s 18-year-old daughter, told local media outlet KFOR that her mother was “filled with so much love” in an interview after Anderson’s arraignment.
“I hope that he spends the rest of his life thinking about it until he gets his life taken, just like he took those people’s lives,” she said.
