U.S.
‘Kill all white people’: Accused killer who targeted white victims now charged in six murders
Washington Post
4 hours ago
‘Kill all white people’: Accused killer who targeted white victims now charged in six murders
For a year, the walking and biking trails snaking through south Kansas City, Mo., were plagued with bloodshed.
Beginning
in August 2016 and continuing deep into the next year, the bodies of
hikers and dog-walkers were found dead along the city’s Indian Creek
trail or on nearby roadways. They were all shot. They were all
middle-aged. They were all white.
The killing
stopped following the August arrest of Fredrick Demond Scott, a
22-year-old Burger King employee. As The Washington Post reported in September, Scott, who is African American, had allegedly threatened to shoot up his high school and “kill all white people.”
Last
fall, Scott pleaded not guilty to three murders — the deaths of Karen
Harmeyer, 64; John Palmer, 54; and Steven Gibbons, 57.
He
was the suspect in three additional deaths and on Friday a grand jury
in Jackson County indicted Scott in connection with them. The victims, according to the Associated Press, were Michael Darby, 61; Timothy Rice, 57; and David Lenox, 67.
All combined, Scott now faces a total six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of armed criminal action.
“We’re
thankful that he is off the street and hopefully he’ll be held
accountable for what he has done,” Mindy Lenox, the David Lenox’s
daughter, told the Kansas City Star.
“I don’t know for me personally that there is any closure. Nothing can
bring my dad back and nothing can take that pain away, but at least
knowing that the person responsible will be held accountable, it will
certainly be helpful.”
Scott has yet to enter a plea to the latest charges.
Authorities have not publicly addressed a possible motive for the killings, racial or otherwise. Last August,
Scott’s mother told the Star her son was suffering from untreated
paranoid schizophrenia and did not appear to be driven by racial animus.
“As
far as I know Fredrick never had a problem with white people,” his
mother told the paper. “He would do odd jobs for people and some of
those people were white men.”
The alleged
murder spree was first discovered when the body of Palmer was found in
the woods off the Indian Creek trail, a 26-mile loop running through
Kansas City. Four additional bodies were found through the year.
Karen Harmeyer, the only woman victim, was killed in July 2017. According to Fox 4,
she was homeless and was found dead in a tent by friends. Her killing
was not initially linked to Scott after his arrest last fall. But in
October, police charged the suspect with her death.
The last victim, Steven Gibbons, was killed after leaving a bus stop in August 2017.
The Gibbons murder is what led authorities to Scott.
As
The Post reported last year, security footage from the scene allegedly
spotted Scott emerging from a city bus at the same stop as Gibbons. At
the crime scene, police discovered a 32-ounce Brisk Ice Tea bottle.
Working off security cameras from various stops along the route,
detectives found footage of Scott buying the same drink before the
murder.
Following Scott’s arrest, local news
outlets dug up his alleged past threats regarding race. In 2014, Scott
was a student at an alternative school when he allegedly threatened to
“shoot the school up, Columbine-style.” According to municipal court
documents, he also spoke of wanting to kill himself and to “kill all
white people.”
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