There have been 12 disappearances. Finally, someone is going to prison
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SHAWNEE — An accessory to murder has been sentenced to four years in prison in only the second conviction out of a hush-hush investigation into a string of disappearances in Oklahoma.
Elizabeth Dee Cornett, 46, of Midwest City, will be on probation for 16 more years after her release.
She pleaded guilty Monday in Pottawatomie County District Court to being an accessory to murder and to desecrating the victim's corpse. Her punishment was the result of a plea agreement.
Her husband, Jason Dean Cornett, 45, was charged last year with first-degree murder as a result of the investigation. Prosecutors in December dropped his case because of witness problems. He died weeks later in Midwest City of a drug overdose.
Killed in January 2021 was David Orr, who had been staying with the Cornetts at a house in McLoud. He was 41. He was shot inside the house, and his body was then burned in a steel box in the backyard.
Investigators believe Orr's remains were scattered at a semirural location in Logan County, possibly after being burned there again.
Elizabeth Cornett admitted after her arrest last year that she helped pull up carpet inside the house and put down new flooring to cover up the crime, according to law enforcement records. She also admitted to "being there" as the body was burned.
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At the center of the investigation is Mikell Patrick "Bulldog" Smith, a three-time convicted murderer once described as the most dangerous inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
His wife was listed for two years as an owner of the Logan County property where Orr's ashes may have been dumped. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed in 2022 that human bone fragments have been found there.
Smith has been described as a shot-caller for the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, a gang known to have been involved in smuggling drugs from Mexico into Oklahoma. Some of those missing were connected to the gang's drug operations, records show.
Smith, 59, also has been identified in court affidavits as Jason Cornett's uncle.
A key witness claimed Jason Cornett admitted to the shooting. The witness said Orr "owed 'Bulldog' money and Jason was instructed to take care of the debt," an investigator reported in the court affidavits. The same witness, though, later said Bulldog had not ordered the killing.
Elizabeth Cornett claimed her husband had shot Orr after a drunken disturbance, according to the law enforcement records.
Also charged last year with being an accessory to Orr's murder and desecrating his corpse was Jordan James Treaster. His case was later moved to juvenile court. It was then dismissed because of witness problems. Treaster, now 19, was identified as Jason Cornett's nephew.
No charges have been filed in any of the other disappearances.
The only other conviction out of the investigation came from a 2022 search of property next door to the site in Logan County where bone fragments were recovered.
A mobile home resident there, David Smith, was caught with a pistol next to the pillow on his bed. He could not legally own a gun because he had a conviction for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in 1976.
David Smith, 65, pleaded guilty in January to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was put on probation for three years.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Investigation into 12 Oklahoma disappearances results in guilty plea
