Robert James Godwin Jr. was 34 when he was found shot to death on a lonely dirt road north of Stroud, Oklahoma. His red pickup was abandoned at the scene; spent .22-caliber casings formed a trail behind him and his torn shirt was found on a barbed-wire fence. Early reports described at least three wounds; later filings said four bullets struck his back, shoulder, buttocks and the back of his head, and the scene suggested he had tried to flee from behind his truck.

Family history and long-simmering tensions are central to this case. Godwin had married Jasmine in 2009 and they had four children; court records show a 2015 emergency protective order and removal of the children by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Investigators say Jeremy Irvin, Jasmine’s brother, made repeated comments in the weeks before the killing about borrowing a gun and taking care of someone. A neighbor later alleged Irvin admitted chasing and shooting Godwin and burying a .22 rifle.

Irvin was arrested and charged with first-degree murder; prosecutors later also charged Jasmine Michelle Irvin with conspiring in the killing. Irvin escaped from the county jail with three others in June 2017 but was recaptured after a manhunt. Does anyone who knew Robert, his family, or the backroads north of Stroud have information that could shed more light on what happened that night?