Hiebert, Verner (1929-1974)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1974 May 16 p. 3

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Oklahoma Couple Die in Explosion

Corn, Okla. — Double funeral services were held at the Corn M. B. Church on May 8 for Mr. and Mrs. Verner Hiebert, who were victims of a farm explosion.

Mr. Hiebert, 45, and his wife Helen Maye [sic Mae], 42, were killed by an explosion as they entered a barn at their farm east of Weatherford. They lice on a farm near Clinton.

The nature and cause of the explosion were not determined immediately. An investigation was to be made by a team of explosives experts from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agency, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

Mr. and Mrs. Hiebert were both natives of this community. Mr. Hiebert was a farmer and worked for the Lawrence Vogt Construction Co., Weatherford.

Surviving in the immediate family are four daughters, Mrs. Dewey Brewer of Quinlan, Tex., Karen, 18, a student at Southwestern College, Weatherford, Laura, 16, and Vera, 4, all of the home, and also the mothers of the two victims, Mrs. Lena Hiebert of the Corn Home for Aged and Mrs. Irene Friesen of Clinton.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1974 May 30 p. 4

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Funeral of Couple Largely Attended

Corn, Okla. — The large Corn Mennonite Brethren Church was filled to capacity on May 8 at 10 a.m. for the double funeral service of Mr. and Mrs. Verner Hiebert, who were killed in an explosion on May 4. The church parking lots were filled with cars, and some were parked on the streets.

Mr. Hiebert and wife Irene [sic Helen Mae] died instantly and their bodies dismembered in a terrific explosion as they opened the door to a machine shed at their farm 10 miles north of Corn. Part of the barn was demolished and debris scattered over the farmyard.

Explosive experts later determined that a high powered nitroglycerine charge had exploded. It is not known who set the charge, although Mr. Hiebert had been scheduled to be a key witness in a trial relating to theft of cattle from the farm last fall.

Mr. and Mrs. Hiebert had just taken delivery on a new tractor in Corn, and Mr. Hiebert drove it to the farm followed by his wife in a pickup truck. They apparently were preparing to put the tractor in the shed when the explosion occurred.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1974 Dec 12 p. 5

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Prison Inmate Charged in Deaths Of Oklahoma Couple

Arapaho, Okla. — Larry Dean Turner, 29, who is serving two concurrent terms in federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan., has been charged with first degree murder in the death of a Custer County farmer last May.

Turner, a native of Holdenville, Okla., was convicted for interstate transportation of money orders stolen from a Dallas grocery. Last spring he was charged with attempted cattle theft. Verner Hiebert, 45, of Weatherford testified against him in a preliminary hearing and was scheduled to testify again on May 6.

On May 4 Mr. Hiebert and his wife Helen Mae, 42, went to their farm west of Weatherford and when one of them opened a barn door, a bomb exploded, fatally injuring both. It is believed the bomb had been rigged to a light switch.

Turner had been notified on May 2 that his appeal on federal charges had been denied. He surrendered to a federal marshal in Tulsa on May 13 to begin serving the sentences.

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