When dining at the Haunted House Restaurant, nestled in the rural outskirts of northeast Oklahoma City, bring along an appetite for mystery.
The story began on June 1, 1963, with the unsolved murder of car-dealer Martin Carriker, who at age 74 was shot in the head while in the house. Authorities charged Carriker’s stepdaughter, Margaret Pearson, along with two handymen from the estate, with the murders.
Shortly after Pearson’s arrest, Carriker’s ex-wife, Clara, died in the house of natural causes. Although Pearson was eventually acquitted of her stepfather’s murder (which remains unsolved to this day), her personal tragedies did not end.
With the estate up for auction and nowhere to turn, Pearson was found dead in the home of an apparent drug overdose shortly before Valentine’s Day the following year.
Restaurant owner Marian Thibault has overseen (previously with her husband, now passed) the “haunted” restaurant in the old Carriker place for 50 years. While she scoffs at the idea that the restaurant is inhabited by spirits, the estate’s gruesome history keeps curious diners returning to this unusual destination.
