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State of
Missouri vs. Kenneth Baumruk
Missouri Supreme Court Case
Number SC83745
Case Facts:
In May 1992, Kenneth Baumruk came to the
St. Louis County courthouse for a hearing in his divorce case.
At the time, the courthouse did not have
metal detectors in place, and Baumruk was able to bring into the
courtroom two loaded .38-caliber guns that he had purchased in the state
of Washington, where he was living at the time.
At the same time, a security meeting was
occurring elsewhere in the courthouse.
While his wife, Mary, was testifying that
she wished to waive a conflict of interest involving her attorney,
Baumruk stood and shot her in the neck. He then shot Pollard in the
chest and his own attorney, Garry Seltzer, in the chest and back.
He then put a gun near
his wife's head and shot her again, killing her. He next shot at the
judge, who fled through the door behind the bench.
By the time Baumruk was
subdued, he had shot nine people, including a bailiff and security guard,
in various parts of the courthouse. Baumruk was shot nine times,
including two shots to his head.
As he was being
handcuffed, he asked two police officers if he had killed his wife.
Later, in the emergency room, he told a doctor he had shot Mary because
of the divorce.
After the shooting, which received much
media attention, the county paid to double the number of security guards
at the courthouse and to install metal detectors there.
Baumruk
sentenced to death
March 20, 2007
Kenneth Baumruk showed no emotion as he heard himself
sentenced to death, again, for killing his estranged wife in a St. Louis
County courthouse shooting 15 years ago. Baumruk killed her during a
divorce hearing. He wounded several the people before a security guard
ended the spree by shooting him in the head. His competence to stand
trial has been questioned for most of the 15 years.
His step-daughter, who was in the courtroom on the
day of the shooting, says she wants to watch his execution - which is
likely to be several years away. Baumruk will be 68 next month, the
oldest prisoner in Missouri facing a death sentence. The oldest person
executed in Missouri was Lambus Allen, who was 73 when he was gassed in
1944.
Kenneth Baumruk, 2001
Kenneth Baumruk showed no emotion as he heard himself
sentenced to death, again, in 2007
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