In the consult, we discuss cases that are violent and sexually violent in nature.

Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to the consult.

I'm Julia Cowley, retired FBI agent and profiler, and former special agent forensic scientists with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

I'm on my own for the next two weeks, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you about a case I profiled shortly after I was assigned

to the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. The case involves the murders of two best friends,

Taylor, Pascal Placker, who was 13 years old, and Skyla Whitaker, who was 11. Taylor and Skylo

were murdered on June 8, 2008.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon,

and they had gone for a walk

along a dirt road in rural Walika, Oklahoma,

when they were shot multiple times

with two different guns.

It was one of the largest investigations ever conducted by the Oklahoma State Bureau of

an investigation.

I heard about this case when it first happened because it made national news.

I think like anyone else who heard about the case, I wondered what kind of person can do

such a horrible thing.

I didn't know at the time, but I would be the person to figure that out. At the time of the murders, I was still assigned the Boston office, and I was working public corruption.

I had followed the Walika case closely, searching the news, always hoping to find out if the killer had been caught.

By 2010, I had been selected for assignment to the BAU, and one morning I was in my office and once again curious about the status of the investigation, so I searched the internet for any updates.

I found an article in which the Oklahoma

State Bureau of Investigation stated they planned to request assistance from the FBI's BAU. So I hustled

...