The Shooting by Panic Button: The April Wilkens Case

Terry Carlton is found shot dead in his basement in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. When the police arrive, his long-time on-again-off-again
fiance, April Wilkens, answers the door. "I shot him, he's in the
basement," she says.

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But this wasn't exactly an open and shut case. Terry had raped
April mere hours before the shooting. It was while he was violating
her that he said he was going to kill her and twisted her neck to
break it. During the life and death struggle for her life, April
knows she had no options--it wasn't a feeling, she had no
options.

In 1999, Wilkens was tried by the state of Oklahoma and sentenced
by a jury to LIFE. She's now 51-years-old, and 25 years into her
sentence. Panic Button is the untold story of the escalating cycles
of abuse that led to Terry Carlton's death, and the unthinkable
ways survivors of violence get chewed up and spit out by Oklahoma's
justice system.

In this first episode, attorneys Colleen McCarty and Leslie Briggs
tell the story of the night of the murder, the facts in the record,
and April's testimony from the stand at trial.

Resources:

Detailed Timeline of Events in April's Case:
https://aprilwilkensblog.wordpress.com/2022/02/12/timeline-of-events/

Sign the Change.org petition to support April's release:
https://www.change.org/p/oklahoma-pardon-parole-board-commute-the-life-sentence-of-abuse-survivor-april-wilkens?signed=true

See pictures of April's and Terry's houses now and watch a video of
host Colleen McCarty driving from April's to Terry's so you can see
how close they lived at the time of the murder.
https://okappleseed.org/episode-1-show-notes
Donate to keep our work going!: neappleseed.org/okappleseed
Learn more about Oklahoma Appleseed: okappleseed.org
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, use a
safe computer and contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at
http://www.thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-7233. You can also
search for a local domestic violence shelter at
http://www.domesticshelters.org/.
If you have experienced sexual assault and need support, visit the
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) at
http://www.rainn.org or call 1-800-656-HOPE.
Have questions about consent? Take a look at this guide from RAINN
at http://www.rainn.org/articles/what-is-consent.
Learn more about criminalized survival at
http://www.survivedandpunishedny.org/.
Learn more about the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act at
http://www.nysda.org/page/DVSJA.
Follow the #freeaprilwilkens campaign on Instagram at
@freeaprilwilkens, and on their webpage at
https://aprilwilkensblog.wordpress.com/.
Colleen McCarty is one of the hosts, executive director of Oklahoma
Appleseed, and producer. Leslie Briggs is the other host who is a
civil rights and immigration attorney, and producer. Additional
audio production by Rusty Rowe. Support from Amanda Ross and Ashlyn
Faulkner. Our theme music is Velvet Rope by Gyom.

Panic Button is created in partnership with Oklahoma Appleseed
Center for Law and Justice and Leslie Briggs. Follow OK Appleseed
on Twitter and Instagram at @ok_appleseed.

If you want to continue the conversation with other listeners,
please join our Panic Button podcast community on Bookclubz at
bit.ly/3NRHO8C.

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episode.
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