Real Name: David Lee Kemp
Aliases: David Glover, Ian Melancon
Wanted For: Murder
Missing Since: June 1999
Case[]
Details: David Kemp of Lawton, Oklahoma had been married to twenty-five-year-old Tina Cremer for five years. During their marriage, he was allegedly physically and mentally abusive towards her. After they separated, he apparently began stalking her. She tried to move on and began dating twenty-six-year-old Robert Miller, whom she met at the hospital where they worked. On August 5, 1998, David received the final divorce papers from her; he vowed that no other man could have her.
On August 10, a few days after the divorce was finalized, Tina and Robert went to his apartment. While he made dinner, she took a shower. Unbeknownst to them, someone was stalking them. This person shot and killed Robert at the front door, then went to the bathroom and shot and killed Tina. Their bodies were discovered the next day. Robert's best friend, officer Troy Morris, arrived at the scene. After seeing Robert's body, he broke down. Authorities believed that David was the killer. They learned that he had threatened to kill Tina and himself if they ever divorced. He also left notes on her car, saying "If I can't have you, no one can." He disappeared before he could be questioned.
Authorities located a man who claimed to have sold David a .44 caliber handgun. Luckily, he had kept some shell casings that he had fired through it. Ballistics tests confirmed that it had been used to kill Robert and Tina. An arrest warrant for murder was issued. Two weeks after the murders, a California Highway Patrolman in Bishop, California, saw a man walking through town. He said that he had ran out of gas and had abandoned his vehicle. However, when the patrolman ran the license plate, he discovered that it belonged to David.
Authorities moved in and began a two hour standoff with David in a junkyard. He placed a gun to his head several times, threatening suicide. During this time, he asked if he could talk to his mother, a detective in Louisiana. A cell phone was lowered behind a fence which allowed him to do so. While he was distracted and talking on the phone, he was taken down by non-lethal beanbag shots and arrested.
A .45 caliber pistol was found in David's possessions. It was determined that it was, indeed, the murder weapon. He was extradited to Lawton, Oklahoma, and placed in the Comache County Jail to await trial. Six months later, on March 11, 1999, prisoners took over the jail by holding a barbecue fork to one of the guards. Nine inmates, including David, escaped. The others were soon captured, but David remained at large, reportedly heading to Texas. In June 1999, he, using an alias, was a tenant at a motel in Las Vegas. When his rent was late, the manager went to his room. He found him lying in the bathtub with a knife on his stomach and covered in blood; he had tried to commit suicide.
David was taken to a psychiatric hospital and treated. Doctors reported that the wounds were only superficial. He was checked into the hospital as a John Doe, and voluntarily left a few days later. Only later did they discover that he was a wanted fugitive. He was last seen getting into a black Firebird at a gas station outside Las Vegas in June 1999.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the July 2, 2002 episode. It was also featured on America’s Most Wanted. It is not to be confused with the Missing Persons case of Donald Kemp in Montana.
Results: Captured. On April 26, 2013, David turned himself in to authorities in southwest Oklahoma. He told police that he was tired of running and that it was affecting his health. In September 2013, he pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Links:
- David Kemp on Unsolved Archive
- David Lee Kemp - Valley's Most Wanted
- Lawton Police Continue Search for Man in Double Slaying - August 18, 1998
- Man ordered held without bond - October 28, 1998
- Search on for four Comanche County escapees -
- Slaying leaves mark on brother - September 11, 1999
- FBI announces reward to catch Lawton fugitive - October 8, 2000
- 1999 escape of suspect in 2 slayings haunts lawman - August 11, 2008
- 10-year mark for murder of Lawton couple; accused remains at large - August 11, 2008
- Inmate missing since 1999 surrenders in Oklahoma - April 26, 2013
- Inmate turns himself in after 14 years - April 27, 2013
- Missing inmate surrenders - April 27, 2013
- Inmate missing since 1999 surrenders - April 27, 2013
- David Kemp Sentenced - September 11, 2013
- David Kemp Inmate Profile
- Tina Cremer on Find a Grave