Strange Happenings in Nodaway County and Maryville Missouri

After finishing our late luncheon in Maryville, it was time to look around the city, before moving on to our family’s home in Omaha Nebraska.

Now this is an eye-catching County Courthouse.  The Nodaway County Courthouse in Maryville, replete with its Victorian Italianate style, was completed in the spring of 1883.  That massive clock tower really grabs your attention…

Nodaway County is located in northwestern Missouri.  The county’s population is roughly 22,300 with about half of that number living in Maryville itself.  The county was organized in the late winter of 1845 and it is named after the Nodaway River. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the several ‘ghost detector’ type shows have already filmed in the county.  Weirdly, the county has experienced a number of sensational murders and related violence.  The spirits can’t be too happy!

In 1931, a mob of 2,000 to 4,00 people watched as Raymond Gunn, an African-American, was stripped, lynched and set on fire.  He had been awaiting trial for attempted rape and the killing of a white 20 year old teacher.  Police directed traffic while Gunn burned.  While the Sheriff said he knew who had actually committed the killing, no one was ever charged.

Executions in the county began in 1881 when 2 brothers were hanged after being convicted of murdering their own father, Dr. Perry H. Talbott.  In addition to being a physician, Talbott was also a newspaper editor and state legislator.  With his dying breath, he blamed his political enemies for his death.  Despite that declaration, his sons were charged and found guilty.  They maintained their innocence until they were executed… 

On a sad but more positive note, this large Veterans Memorial is a prominent feature outside the courthouse.  It of course honors those veterans from Nodaway County who gave their lives for our freedom.

Murals have apparently become a ‘thing’ in small towns and villages across the USA.  We saw several during out road trip, beginning with this one in downtown Maryville.  This mural shows the Forsyth House…with Lute and Bessie Forsyth in their “electric cart”.  As is readily apparent, construction of the home itself was assisted by the same architect who designed the courthouse.  Unfortunately the home was torn down in 1977.

Back to the ghosts… In 1884, Omaha Charley shot Hubert Kremer in a saloon in Maryville.  He’d been arrested for the murder but 50 masked men broke into the jail and demanded that the Sheriff turn him over to them.  The Sheriff and his deputy fought the mob but they were overpowered…the mob then taking Omaha Charley to a bridge where they hung him.

In November of 1910, Oda Hubbell and “Hez” Rasco, a farmer’s son, took part in an all-night poker game in a boxcar at the Barnard Depot.  The next day, Hubbell, his wife and their 4 and 6 year old children were found dead.  After killing the children, the murderer set the house on fire.  Hez Rasco was arrested and charged with the murder.  Rasco maintained his innocence until he was hung in March of 1912.  A book was written about these murders…Hezekiah Rasco: Child of Woe – Man of Sorrow.  

This surely is one of the most impressive small town bank buildings one could find.  Bank Midwest Maryville, located at 402 North Main Street, has been serving customers in Nodaway County since 1931.

But the weird and deadly series of events continue in Nodaway County.  In 1972, a 15 year old boy cut the telephone line to the Marion Merrigan family’s home near Conception Missouri.  He snuck into the basement and when everyone was asleep, he went from bedroom to bedroom, murdering his classmate as well as the classmate’s parents and sister.

Then, in August of 1973, Teresa “Tessie” Hilt, a student at Northwest Missouri State was strangled and stabbed to death in her off-campus apartment in Maryville.  It is still an open case as the murderer has never been identified.

As I walked down Main Street in Maryville taking photos, I came across this strange unidentified statue sitting by the curb.  I asked a local what it was about, and he said he didn’t know, that “local powers that be are always doing weird things”.  I liked it and I’ve been able to learn that it is entitled “Strings of Happiness” and it was created by a California artist named Osamede Obazee.

…continuing with the ghosts.  In July of 1981, several unknown people in the town of Skidmore killed Ken McElroy…right in the middle of town.  McElroy was indeed an abusive man who was suspected of many crimes but who was never convicted.  He was shot in his truck in the full view of a crowd.  Different caliber bullets showed that several people were involved in the killing.  No one saw anything and despite the efforts of a local and Federal task force, the crime was never solved.  The book and movie In Broad Daylight are based on this event.  To learn more, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Broad_Daylight_(1991_film).

In 1990, Bureau of Alcohol, Tax and Firearms informant Christine Elkins from Nodaway County disappeared.  Her car, with her bones in the trunk, was found in 1997 in the Mississippi River.  She’d been beaten to death by a couple of local cousins.

This handsome home is known as both the Thomas Gaunt House and ‘The President’s home’.  Built ca. 1865 in the Late Greek Revival style with neoclassical porches and Tuscan columns, it’s owned by Northwest Missouri State University and it’s the home of the President of the University.  Northwest Missouri State University is home to about 7,100 students…which is equal to about 63 percent of the population of Maryville.  The University must have a huge impact on the local economy.

More ghosts… In the fall of 1994, a local farmer murdered his wife by killing the family’s cat, throwing it under a combine…and then luring his wife to go underneath that combine.  He had rigged the combine so it would fall on his wife when he tugged on a rope…

Then in the spring of 1995, Dennis Jones of Maryville, murdered Karen Hawkins, a student at NWMS and a friend of his since high school.  After sexually assaulting her, he strangled and stomped her to death.  Before Jones could go to trial, he hung himself in the Nodaway County Jail.

This impressive home is located near the University at 623 West 3^rd Street in Maryville.  It was built in 1905 but I couldn’t find any other information on it…

You would think that in such a remote and lightly populated area, one would run out of potential ghosts…that’s not the case.  In October of 2000, Greg Dragoo beat and then dragged his girlfriend down several county roads near Skidmore…leading to her death.

In June of 2001, 71 year-old Lloyd Robert Jeffress, wielding 2 semi-automatic rifles, opened fire in the hallways of the Conception Abbey, murdering 2 monks and wounding 2 others.  Jeffress then committed suicide in the chapel.

I am not sure how old the original portion of this huge and impressive house is…but I did learn that a 2,994 square foot addition was made to it in 2017.  It used to be known as the Alumni House and it is situated on 1.69 acres adjacent to the University.  This Federal-style structure is owned by a non-profit and it’s leased to the Office of University Development…which involves ‘Bearcat’ alumni relations and development operations.

Even more ghosts…

In December of 2004, Bobbie Jo Stinnett was murdered in her home in Skidmore.  Her unborn baby was cut from her womb.  The killer, Lisa Montgomery, was identified thanks to computer forensic evidence and the baby was saved.

In November of 2007, two Maryville neighbors got into an argument with Donald Ray Gardner Jr.  It was over a $40 debt at a house.  Gardner was taken from the house, beaten and then dumped in a field to die.

In December of 2007, Jorge Saavedra Pere fatally shot his roommate, Jamie Zamudio-Hernandez, in the kitchen of the Mandarin Restaurant in Maryville.  They both worked in the restaurant and they’d argued over money. 

This is further proof that one should never trust your vehicle’s navigation system… In an effort to quickly get over to US I-29 from Maryville…our final push to visit our family in Omaha, I simply told the system what town along I-29 I wanted to reach.  Miles and miles of dirt roads later…not to mention a little verbal commentary by my bride…we finally reached our destination.  FYI, this is one of the wider roads the system put us on!

…but there still are a few more ghosts from Nodaway County.

Catherine Daisy Coleman was raped by a 17 year-old boy when she was just 14.  A second boy raped her 13 year-old friend while a third boy recorded the events on a cell phone.  The family of Daisy’s rapist had connections and charges were dropped… After the assault, Daisy became the target of daily bullying and the family was forced to move.  Family homes in both Missouri locations suffered suspicious fire damage.  Daisy became a sexual assault victim advocate…and she was one of the subjects of a 2016 documentary film entitled Audrie and Daisy.  Catherine Daisy Coleman committed suicide at the age of 23.  You can check out the movie at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrie_%26_Daisy.

…and finally, in June of 2013, Steve Parsons, the owner of Parsons Tires, committed suicide in the courtroom of the Nodaway County Courthouse.  He used a cyanide capsule he’d purchased on-line and he slid it into his mouth after hearing he’d be going to prison for 7 years when he was found guilty of sodomy with his babysitter, a 14-year old girl.

Nodaway County certainly has had a startling series of events that have haunted the area.  I did note that no horrible crimes have taken place here in the past 8 years…perhaps a harbinger of good times and peace.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave