10 years later: Broken Arrow Police reflect on Bever family murders

Tuesday marks 10 years since one of the most horrific crimes in Broken Arrow’s history — the brutal murders of five members of the Bever family at the hands of two teenage brothers.

On July 22, 2015, Robert and Michael Bever — then 18 and 16 — carried out a premeditated attack on their own family. They killed their parents and three younger siblings. Two sisters survived. The crime drew national and international attention.

Captain Brandon Tener and Detective Eric Bentz with the Broken Arrow Police Department were among those on scene that night and still carry vivid memories of what they encountered.

“When I think back on the case now, the biggest takeaway I have from it is how my brothers in blue handled it,” Bentz said. “We had never experienced anything like this before. There was every chance for this to go so many different ways, and everybody stood up and did their job.”

Tener, the first officer to enter the Bever home, said the case remains the worst scene the department has ever faced.

“It’s not necessarily how graphic the scene was,” Tener said. “It’s how it was carried out with such malice and within the family unit. That’s what made it the worst kind.”

Robert and Michael Bever are now serving life sentences for the murders. The case dominated headlines during the investigation and trial, as the community struggled to make sense of the crime.

For Detective Bentz, the explanation remains chillingly simple.

“My answer has always been they’re just pure evil,” Bentz said. “And I looked both in the eyes — that’s what I saw.”

Tener recalled the emotional weight hitting him only after he had left the scene.

“Another detective walked by and looked at me, and I probably had an abnormal look on my face,” Tener said. “He said, ‘Are you all right?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know what I just walked into.’”

While the brothers' actions remain the focus of public attention, both officers urge the community to remember the two surviving sisters — Crystal and Autumn — and the brother who saved their lives by calling 911 but didn't survive.

“If it wasn’t for him running into danger to get a cell phone and make that phone call, Crystal and Autumn wouldn’t be here,” Bentz said.

In the aftermath of the killings, the Broken Arrow Police Department implemented mental health services for officers, recognizing the emotional toll such tragedies can take on first responders.

That support, officers say, has been essential for healing.

For more from the interview with Captain Tener and Detective Bentz: