What Happened to Courtney Palmer? The Story of “The First 48”

A young adult of 23 met his gruesome fate, this is Courtney Palmer’s story. He was tortured and brutally killed by two people namely Gerald Keith Lowe Jr. and Michaela Riddle. On the 10th of November 2016, Courtney was reported missing.
Sergeant Dave Walker said that Courtney Palmer witnessed a shooting at the Tamarack Apartments on November 8 while high on PCP ( mind-altering drug leads to hallucinations and distortion of personal reality. The police department believed Courtney to be dead as rumors were circulating that his body was fed to the hogs of Muskogee County, though they didn’t find his body.
“These people are whacked out on PCP and figured it was a good way to teach Courtney a lesson but wow, it went too far,” said TPD Sgt. Dave Walker.
Unfortunately, after this, the homicide detectives based their search on a rumored dead body though this is what walker had to say
‘This is not an official homicide case until a body is recovered or formal charges are filed also this is not the first time detectives have heard of a body being fed to hogs’.
Palmer’s family was in great shock by how the events unfolded, his mother said Courtney used to call her every day, but she has neither heard from him nor anybody else seems to know about his whereabouts. They hoped that he would come out, as they loved him dearly despite his issues.
The murder of Courtney Palmer, Tulsa became one of the most talked-about cases, it is said that on the night of the shooting, Courtney witnessed Carl Harris, his friend being shot, Courtney immediately spoke to a detective about the shooting, though he was attacked that night and went missing.
The attack was brutal, to say the least, his facial bones were broken as were several of his ribs, the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office listed the reasons under homicidal violence by multiple modalities.
Courtney’s corpse was highly decomposed.
What Happened to Courtney Palmer?
They put a bag on his head and strangled him in the hallway before this they poured boiling hot water on his head. Then they continuously stomped on him till he couldn’t breathe, after he got badly beat he was found lying in a bathtub full of ice. There was blood coming from palmer’s face as if all this insanity wasn’t enough he was hit with sticks in the bathtub and bled profusely which proved that he was alive through all this torture.
On the 15th of December TPD received an anonymous tip that Gerald Lowe, a suspect of the case was seen in Muskogee, Oklahoma Tulsa. The Tulsa police took action immediately and went to the site (northwest corner of 74th street) only to find a badly burnt body in the shallow dug grave. On the autopsy, it was confirmed that this was Courtney Palmer’s body.
The most shocking inhumane part of the case is yet to be disclosed: All these incidents had a witness, Not one but two. The people who didn’t think to report the crime or acted as accessories to the crime. Jeanetta Thomas and Charletha Mack were also present at the house, the crime scene. Courtney’s pleas to spare him was not heard, instead, he was subjected to severe torture for several hours, testimony revealed.
Police ran DNA tests on the sock and a vacuum erection device found in the bedroom in a house near the burial site, it helped tie Lowe and Riddle to the scene of the crime. – said, Detective Jason White.
It turned out that Courtney was innocent and he was wrongfully accused of something he knew nothing of. They were accusing him of setting up a person named “Duke”, which he repeatedly denied. Later it was identified that Duke was Harris. Carl Harris: the one who got shot!
Harris spent 6 weeks in the hospital because of his gunshot wounds. He testified before the judge that Palmer didn’t try to get him shot.
The codefendants who were in tears testified against Lowe and Riddle as they retold the gruesome crime. Mack even said that Courtney was like a nephew to her, as he had a child with her niece, she exhibited deep remorse and wanted to get justice. Her interest to know the aftermath elicited a simple response from Lowe and Riddle to ‘‘not to worry about it.’’
Harris was Charged for kidnapping Lowe and Riddle were additionally charged for desecration and being associated with Hoover crisp.
They were all sentenced to imprisonment except for Mack who was an accessory to the murder. Gerald Lowe was sentenced to life besides 20 years for kidnapping and 7 years towards desecration of a human corpse and five years for gang-related offenses by the judge with the possibility of parole.
The First 48 Palmer episodes give out more details on the case, watch episodes S19 E19, E28, and E29. It is named the unspeakable and is made into a two-part series. It is available on aetv.com.