Wowza! We’ve already made it through the first full week of 2026! This week, Tiff’s listener pick takes us back to 1979 when OK was rocked by the brutal murders of Rev. Richard and Mrs. Marilyn Douglass.

Rev. Richard Douglass was the lead pastor at Putnam City Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. Marilyn Lacy Douglass chose to focus on raising their two children, Brooks and Leslie. The couple married on July 8, 1961, and spent several years as Southern Baptist missionaries in the Amazon region of Belém, Brazil, a formative period for the family before they later settled in rural Okarche, Oklahoma. Their life together—marked by devotion, faith, and service—became the backdrop for the film The Amendment (formerly Heaven’s Rain).

On the evening of October 15, 1979, two men, later identified as Steven Keith Hatch and Glen Burton Ake, forced their way into the Douglass home after committing another robbery, tied the family, and brutally executed Rev. Douglass and Marilyn while their children, 16-year-old Brooks and 12-year-old Leslie, were bound and wounded. The attackers shot the four family members; Brooks and Leslie survived despite severe injuries, escaping and seeking help. Investigators quickly traced the suspects through descriptions and the stolen yellow Chevy; Ake and Hatch fled, committing similar violent crimes across multiple states before being captured weeks later. The case drew massive public attention, and an exhaustive manhunt that ended with the suspects’ arrest six weeks after the murders.

Due the grave nature of these crimes, listener discretion is advised. 

Join your favorite cousins for their first True Crime case of 2026…Part 1 of the story of Glen Ake and Steve Hatch.

Sources:

• Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

• The Oklahoman; 2022; 2022

• Wikipedia

• Murderpedia

• Dateline

• Heaven’s Rain

• They Will Kill You