Insets, from left: Jacob Bailey and Renee Carpenter (Craig County Sheriff’s Office). Background: the Craig County Sheriff’s Office in Vinita, Oklahoma (Google Maps).
An Oklahoma couple has been sentenced after admitting they beat their roommate to death at a home in Vinita.
Jacob Bailey, 38, and Renee Carpenter, 43, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Sept. 25 in the death of 34-year-old Robert Sikes. Sikes lived with the couple before his body was discovered in September 2025. After investigating the death and allegations of repeated violent abuse, authorities arrested Bailey and Carpenter and initially charged them with first-degree murder.
An arrest affidavit obtained by NBC affiliate KSN said the couple gave investigators changing accounts before Carpenter acknowledged beating Sikes. She also told police that Bailey had beaten him. Carpenter said she “frequently” placed Sikes in pink handcuffs because his nighttime behavioral disturbances annoyed the couple. Both told police the handcuffs were eventually thrown away, although they offered different accounts of when that occurred.
Bailey reportedly admitted beating Sikes until he became unresponsive. An autopsy found that Sikes had suffered 69 fractures, including injuries to his clavicle, ulna, ribs, mandible and eye socket. The examination also revealed internal bleeding and a ruptured bowel.
According to the affidavit, Bailey said Carpenter once stepped on Sikes’ throat to stop him from calling for help. He also told investigators that she “took part in the striking of Sikes that ultimately led to his death.”
Police said Bailey, Carpenter and Sikes all had histories of mental illness. The couple told authorities they did not seek help for Sikes because they were afraid they would get in trouble.
Bailey and Carpenter were each sentenced to 25 years in prison.