True Crime: Missouri

by David J. Krajicek

True Missouri tells 11 stories of deadly doings in the "Show-Me" state. Author David J. Krajicek also considers whether there is something in the state's bloodlines that makes Missourians a particularly foul breed. One new resident of the state said a neighbor suggested that Missourians like to handle conflicts themselves. His "You shoot, you shovel, and you shut up."    Among the featured crimes in the Lee Shelton's barroom murder of Billy Lyons in St. Louis, which inspired the popular song "Stagger Lee." The vigilante killing of the "town bully" of Skidmore, Ken McElroy. Did the tiny town, which has shriveled to nearly ghost-town status, curse itself by keeping a secret about the slaying? The heartless kidnapping and murder of millionaire Robert Greenlease's son in Kansas City by a couple of St. Joseph barflies. The Kirkwood City Council massacre. The "throwaway" serial killings of perhaps two dozen yo

Genres: True Crime

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

First things first: The name is pronounced CRY-check.

I'm a writer, mostly about crime and murder, although most recently I have published two family-related historical memoirs, "Dear Mama" and "Coming Home to South Omaha." Before retiring recently from the music business, I spent 30 years singing and playing trombone in a band based in the mountains of upstate New York--old-school R&B, like Motown and Stax. Nowadays, most of my spare time is consumed by tennis.

I come from South Omaha, Nebraska, although I now split time between New York and the Gulf Coast.

I studied at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Columbia University. I spent much of my early professional life as a newspaper crime reporter in the Midwest and New York City. I taught journalism at Columbia during most of the 1990s before being compelled to return full-time to my primary muse: writing. I'm back to writing about crime, though in longer form.

For 20 years, from 1999 until 2019, I wrote The Justice Story for the Sunday New York Daily News. It's the longest-running true crime feature in American journalism, published in the News since 1923. Before retiring, each of my 500 columns looked back at an interesting historical crime case--the sorts of stories you will know hear recounted on the countless true crime podcasts.

I have written stories about crime and criminal justice for many media venues, including The Crime Report, Alternet, The New York Times, Columbia and Boston magazines, Slate, The Village Voice, The Manchester (U.K.) Guardian and Mother Jones.

I've had a long side career as a crime expert on TV, appearing more than 25 times on episodes of true crime shows. I've also talked about crime cases on "The Today Show" and was proud to be a part of "The Poisoner's Handbook" on PBS's American Experience.

My books include the family memoirs "Dear Mama" and "Coming Home to South Omaha," both published by News Ink Books; "Charles Manson" and "Mass Killers," by Arcturus/Sirius Books of London, England; "Massachusetts Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival (Second Edition)"; "Death by Rock 'n' Roll," a Kindle ebook from Crimescape/​Rosetta Books; "True Crime: Missouri," a longtime regional bestseller published by Stackpole Books; "Murder, American Style" by News Ink Books, and "Scooped!", published by Columbia University Press.

I've dabbled in fiction, as well. My first published fiction, a short story called "Sutphin Blvd.," was included in an anthology by Midnight Mind Press in New York. Another of my short stories, "Bluefish," was performed at Literally Speaking, an Albany, N.Y., program similar to NPR's "Selected Shorts."

Thanks for your interest in my work. Without readers, there would be no writers.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good quick read. Learned some stories I didn’t know about Missouri and more about some I did. Was a little annoyed by the poor editing at times, but not enough to stop reading.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of cases from the Show-Me State.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several cases I had never heard of. It blows my mind how cruel people can be.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book over all. I wish that there was more crimes and that the book was thicker. I finished it in one session of about an hour and half of reading. I knew some about one case in the book. I wished that there was more information about the other cases instead of the highlights.

[Linda Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good true crime book regarding cases that happened in my state

[Jennifer Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This captured my interest from the first page.I’d recommend this novel to the suspense or crime/horror genre lovers because the author seems to have done a great job in research! Truly intriguing!

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is really just a few pages on each murder. Doesn’t really give much information or inside view of the murders.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting. None of the cases were things I was previously familiar with.

[Misty Blackburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy the crime and when i find love about murders in my home state made more very happy. This book didn't disappoint at all. It's a must read

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There isn't much to say than this is a good fun true crime read. For the most part the stories are either old enough to have been forgotten or low key enough to have not been covered outside of Missouri. These stories are written with just the proper amounts of news paper flash to make each element engaging. The stories are well chosen and represent what one might read in a local paper yet written well enough that if you did not know much about the story you quickly do. The Ken Rex McElroy murder and Bobby Greenlease case are well known but the rest aren't which makes for great reading.

This is a good story to read!