Families Of Henryetta Murder Victims React After Home Where Deaths Occurred Catches Fire: 'Still A Horrific Scene'

The fathers of two murder victims say they were shocked to learn the house where it happened was set on fire Tuesday.

The home is where Jesse McFadden murdered his wife, her three children, and two of their friends who were staying the night in May of 2023.

The Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office believes the fire was arson.

Related: Henryetta Home, Site Where 7 People Were Found Dead In 2024, Catches Fire

WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR

The Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office says firefighters started fighting the fire at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Deputies say they were informed about the fire at 8:00 a.m. and contacted the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Investigators say graffiti was found inside the home as well.

Investigators say they don’t have any evidence at this time tying the owner of the property to the arson.

The two agencies are working together to figure out what happened.

This is the full statement from the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office:

“On 12/10/2024 at approximately 0530 hours, Firefighters from both the Dewar Fire Department and Henryetta Fire Department were notified of a structure fire located at 14600 Holly Road, Okmulgee County, Henryetta, Oklahoma. Okmulgee County Deputies were informed at approximately 0800 hours that the fire was possibly an arson and the State Fire Marshal's Office had been contacted for further investigation. OCSO Investigators are currently working with the State Fire Marshal's Office on the investigation and it is believed at this time to be an arson. There are no leads, so Investigators are attempting to generate leads and are conducting interviews of people in the area. Once the State Fire Marshal's Office has completed a cause and origin report, a determination on what started the fire as well as other investigative information will be examined at that time. There is no other information to be released at this time. As information becomes available it will be released.”

The Henryetta Fire Department also released this statement:

“Henryetta Fire responded to a structure fire at approximately 5:30 a.m. to assist Dewar FD. Once crews extinguished the fire it was determined that the State Fire Marshals Office needed to be notified. They are currently conducting an investigation and once finished will put out a statement. There were no injuries or fatalities.”

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

Jesse McFadden was a sex offender after being convicted in 2003 of first-degree rape in Pittsburg County.

He was released from prison in 2020 and after his release married Holly and rented the home.

Before his release, McFadden was charged with using a contraband cell phone to send sexual messages to a teenage girl.

He was charged with that crime in 2017 and the trial for those charges was supposed to start on May 1, 2023.

That was the same day investigators found McFadden and six victims dead.

Investigators believe McFadden shot all six people to death before killing himself.

Those who were killed were Holly McFadden, her children Rylee Allen, Michael Mayo, and Tiffany Guess, as well as Brittany Brewer and Ivy Webster, who were spending the night with Guess.

RESPONSE FROM FAMILIES

The fathers of Brittany Brewer and Ivy Webster say seeing all the investigators outside the house Tuesday takes them right back to the day they learned their little girls had been killed.

Brittany Brewer’s father, Nathan Brewer, says he does all he can to avoid that area.

“It’s still a horrific scene,” said Brewer. “It brings back memories to people who live in that area, who go by there, or even the victim’s families to go by there.”

Brewer says he doesn’t think the house should have been there after the tragedy, but he doesn’t agree with setting it on fire.

“I know some bad things happened in there, but that still doesn’t, now knowing that they’re looking at arson, still doesn’t give the right for somebody to go and burn it down,” said Brewer.

Justin Webster, the father of Ivy Webster, says he heard the sirens going down to the house while he was getting ready for work.

“As soon as you look at that house, you think about what happened in that house,” said Webster.

Webster says hearing those sirens go down his road brought him right back to what happened there.

“We haven’t entered Ivy’s room since the first week,” said Webster. “We have to walk by it every day. It’s horrible. Going through all of this, the house burning and everything, it just brings everything up, and it is what it is I guess.”

But, Webster says the house isn’t what’s important.

“Don’t focus so much on the house. Who cares about the house? Good riddance, who cares? It’s what happened in that house that matters. You can’t burn those away. You can’t get rid of those. You have to change and make sure that happens again.”

NEXT STEPS

Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened.

Investigators say if anyone knows who set the house on fire, they should call the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office.

The number for the Sheriff’s Office is 918-756-4311.