Nodaway County, Missouri - Crime in The County

Crime in The County

Unfortunately, Nodaway County has a long history of violence.

The first execution in Nodaway County occurred in the county seat of Maryville on July 22, 1881. Two brothers, Albert P. and Charles E. Talbott, were hanged after being convicted of murdering their father, Dr. Perry H. Talbott. Dr. Talbott, a local physician and author, died on September 18, 1880 at his home northwest of Arkoe, the town he co-founded. He was shot at his home and died of his injuries the same evening. The sons insisted they were not the killers, but the jury found otherwise. Following their execution, they were buried on the family cemetery. Their tombstone, a vertical column with two hands clasped in friendship, bears an inscription, "We Died Innocent."

Omaha Charley, whose real name was Charles F. Stevens, was the next to hang,, on December 9, 1884. Omaha Charley had shot Hubert Kremey in Hilgert's Saloon in Maryville on December 3. Feelings ran high, and many of locals considered the killing unjustified. They decided to take matters into their own hands. Newspaper reports said 50 masked men came to the jail and demanded Omaha Charley. James Anderson, then county sheriff, meekly complied. The mob took Omaha Charley to the East Fourth Street Bridge and hanged him from it.

One of the most notorious murders in Nodaway County was committed by Hezekiah "Hez" Rasco, a farmer's son, who was hanged on March 26, 1912 for the murder of Oda Hubbell.

Rasco and Hubbell participated in an all-night poker game in a boxcar at the Barnard Depot. Hubbell then returned to his family on the morning of November 20, 1910. Two days later, Rasco was arrested and charged with the murder of Hubbell, his wife, and their children Welton, age 4, and Jessie, 6. It was Oda Hubbell's murder that Rasco was tried and convicted for. Oda Hubbell had been killed with a shotgun outside the house and his body dragged inside by his killer. Mrs. Hubbell was beaten to death with the shotgun butt. After killing the children, the murderer set fire to the Hubbell home, which almost incinerated the children's corpses and Mrs. Hubbell's, and left little more than half of the torso of Hubbell before the blaze was extinguished by a passing neighbor. Rasco maintained his innocence to his death.

Raymond Gunn, an African American, was arrested and confessed to the murder and attempted rape of a young white schoolteacher. On January 12, 1931, a mob in Maryville took Gunn to the scene of the crime, the school house. They tied him to the school house roof and set fire to the building, burning Gunn alive.

Benedict “Benny” Kemper: On the night of Oct. 10, 1972, Mr. Kemper, then only 15 years of age, cut the telephone line to the Marion Merrigan Family’s house outside of Conception, Mo, snuck into the basement and waited for the family to go to sleep. Once asleep, he then went upstairs and went from bedroom to bedroom and murdered (4) members of the family; Marion, the father; Kathleen, the mother; William, his classmate and their son; and Helen Ann, their daughter using a .22 bolt action rifle.

The surviving member (Sue Merrigan Dorrel) was going to school at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, MO at the time of the incident. Ms. Dorrel is the Aunt of current Northwest Missouri State Univeristy Football Coach Adam Dorrel,.

In 1973, Mr. Kemper was sentenced to four consecutive 45-year sentences for the murder and an additional six years for an attempted jail escape.

In 1981, unknown citizens of Skidmore killed Ken McElroy, in what is one of the county's best-kept secrets. An abusive man suspected of many crimes but never convicted, McElroy was shot in his truck in Skidmore's main street, in full view of a crowd. The different caliber bullets showed there had been several people involved. However, when questioned by the county sheriff, everyone insisted they had ducked under the pool table in the local bar and saw nothing. Sheriff Estes remarked, "That must have been the biggest damn pool table in the world." The book and movie In Broad Daylight is based on this event.

In 1990, FBI informant Christine Elkins disappeared. Elkins was beaten to death by cousins Tony and Tug Emery, joined by an unnamed associate. Elkins' body was thrown into the trunk of her car and driven to the Missouri River. The Emerys used a board to hold the steering column in place and another piece to hold down the accelerator. They then ran the car off a boat ramp. The car was found in 1996, with Elkins' body in the trunk. Dental records identified the remains. Tony Emery was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. He appealed the conviction, which was affirmed in 1999.

In December 2004, Bobbie Jo Stinnett was murdered in her home and had her unborn baby cut from her womb. Lisa Montgomery was convicted of Stinnett's murder and sentenced to death in 2007.