Nearly 30 years after the brutal murder of 81-year-old widow Gerthie Carolina, two of her relatives have been arrested and charged with killing her over a $40,000 inheritance.
Carolina was beaten, stabbed, and left to die on her kitchen floor in Sasakwa, Oklahoma, in August 1997, just months after finalizing her will.
The case went cold until 2023, when investigators discovered Carolina’s blood on a shoe collected as evidence on the day of the crime, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI).
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The two relatives of Carolina, who was murdered in 1997, were charged nearly three decades later, as reported by the New York Post.
Dakota Davis, Carolina’s then-17-year-old grandniece, and Carolyn Foreman, her niece who now suffers from dementia, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Investigators discovered Carolina’s blood on a shoe belonging to Davis. The pair allegedly cashed out $40,000 from a trust just days after Carolina’s death. Carolina had named Foreman as the beneficiary of a $40,000 certificate of deposit four months before her murder.
“Carolina left her estate to Foreman, who would then be responsible for dividing the estate up among the family,” the OSBI reported in court affidavits.
Authorities allege that Foreman and Davis brutally murdered Carolina out of impatience to claim the $40,000 inheritance.
The pair, aged 53 and 17 at the time, claimed they discovered Carolina dead around 3:15 a.m. while arriving to take her to a doctor’s appointment. However, an autopsy revealed Carolina died from multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma, according to police.
In the 28 years since Carolina’s murder, Davis allegedly confessed multiple times to killing her, claiming she used either an ax or a machete, according to affidavits.
In 2001, Davis reportedly told her father that she “chopped up” her great aunt while Foreman urged her to “hit her again.”
Court documents also reveal that Carolina had confronted Foreman about stealing money from her bank account before her death.
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Foreman was arrested in Midwest City, Oklahoma, while Davis was apprehended in Sacramento, California.
Foreman had previously faced a first-degree murder charge in the 1999 shooting of a 16-year-old, though the charge was later dismissed.
Her son was convicted of that murder in 2007 and is serving a life sentence. Foreman, who has been married for 51 years, now suffers from dementia, as stated in her bond petition.
