Inmate Testifies in Trial of Warden’s Wife

MAGNUM, OKLA. (AP) — An Oklahoma state prison inmate testified Thursday that he saw a convicted killer get into a van with the wife of a prison warden the day the two disappeared almost 17 years ago. The inmate testified in the trial of Bobbi Parker, 49. She’s accused of helping inmate Randolph Franklin Dial escape the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite where Parker’s husband, Randy, was deputy warden.

The 42-year-old inmate’s name was ordered by Greer County District Judge Richard Darby not to be revealed because he fears reprisal for his testimony. The inmate, who is serving a life prison sentence at the Lawton Correctional Facility for first-degree murder, told Assistant District Attorney David Thomas he didn’t want to be involved in the case.

Randy Parker was not in court Thursday because he is a subpoenaed witness, but has attended previous court proceedings.

Prosecutors allege that Parker fell in love with Dial and became his mistress while the two worked together in a prison pottery program in the garage of the Parker home, then helped him escape on Aug. 30, 1994.

The defense has said Parker was kidnapped, beaten and repeatedly raped by Dial and that he held her hostage until they were found living on a chicken farm in Campti, which is in Shelby County, Texas, in 2005.