Cushing Triple Homicide Victims Identified

Staff and Wire Reports

CUSHING, Oklahoma -- The victims of a triple homicide that took place in Cushing Tuesday morning have been identified.

District Attorney Rob Hudson says investigators believe a handgun recovered from a retention pond in Stillwater was used in the killings.

Hudson didn't release the victims' names, but an affidavit filed in the case listed them as 21-year-old Albert Cernas; 19-year-old Elizabeth Hueser and 27-year-old Douglass Mason Peck.

A man wanted in connection with Tuesday's triple homicide in Cushing was found Tuesday afternoon.

The person of interest, 20-year-old Robert Chad Barela, was taken into custody by Oklahoma State University police.

Payne County prosecutors have filed three counts of first-degree murder against a man who allegedly shot three people to death in Cushing.

The charges were read during an initial court appearance Wednesday for 20-year-old Robert Chad Lansford-Barela. Barela remained in custody without bond.

Barela left his car at a Walmart on the west side of Stillwater and began to walk on foot. Campus police recognized Barela and stopped him, an OSU spokesman said.

The homicides were reported at about 5:21 a.m. Tuesday in the Payne County town, about 27 miles southeast of Stillwater.

Cushing Police Chief Terry Brannon said the victims were found in the 800 block of E. Moses Street, a residential area of town.

The home in which the homicide took place was also the site of a recent meth bust.

According to family members, one of the victims, Albert Sernas, was Barela's cousin.

No cause of death has been determined.

Harrison Elementary in Cushing was put on lockdown and a SWAT team was nearby loooking for the alleged killer.

According to Brannon the last homicide in Cushing was in April of 2007.

Funeral Arrangements for Albert Sernas will be February 23 at 10 a.m. at Cushing First Christian Church.