Forgotten history: The Bath School Massacre

[seamusTX]

On May 18, 1927, 45 people were killed in the deadliest criminal act in U.S. history up to that time, a record that would remain intact until the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

The perpetrator was a lunatic named Andrew P. Kehoe. He was a farmer, 55 years old at the time of the bombing. By contemporary accounts, he was an unpredictable man. He could be friendly, but he was often argumentive, demanding, and stingy. (Sounds to me like manic depression or narcissistic personality disorder.)

He was fascinated by machinery and explosives. When he was a teenager, his step-mother was injured by the explosion of oil stove. No one suspected foul play at the time; but in retrospect, it is certainly possible that Kehoe sabotaged the stove.

Kehoe was fanatically opposed to taxes, and in 1924 he was appointed to a vacancy on the Bath, Michigan, school board.

Kehoe had financial problems, which he blamed on school taxes, though it seems they were caused mostly by his own mismanagement. As the date of the disaster approached, he was on the verge of foreclosure and bankruptcy.

He had access to the school building and performed some repairs at no charge. Apparently he mined the building with explosives at that time.

The morning of May 18, he killed his wife by a blow to the head. He confined his livestock inside the barn and detonated explosives that had been placed in all the buildings. Of course, the fire department responded to that incident and was far from the school when, an hour later, the school building exploded.

An hour after the school explosion, Kehoe drove a car packed with explosives and shrapnel to the scene. He forced the school superintendent, Emory Huyck, whom he hated, into the vehicle and detonated it. The third explosion caused havoc among the rescuers.

In all, 45 people, mostly young children, died, and 58 were seriously injured. Kehoe was ruled the lone actor. Some of his actions in the weeks before the bombing were later seen as indicators of suicide, but no one connected the dots at the time.

The only failure in his evil plan was a bomb in the school that failed to explode, sparing many more lives.

This incident is very well documented but largely forgotten. Just search for "Bath school massacre."

- Jim

[Venus Pax]

Thanks, seamus. I had never heard of it until you posted.

[anygunanywhere]

Weren't schools bomb free zones back then?

Anygunanywhere

[seamusTX]

You're welcome, Venus.

Anygun, murder has been illegal since before Cain killed Abel. That has never stopped a determined or impulsive criminal or lunatic.

I might also point out that Kehoe's actions resulted in higher taxes (though obviously he did not have to pay them, since checks written in Hades can't be cashed at the local bank).

- Jim

[anygunanywhere]

I was pointing out the obvious that laws never prevent behavior.

A lot of people think Columbine was the worst.

Keep posting them Jim!

Anygunanywhere

[seamusTX]

I was pointing out the obvious that laws never prevent behavior.

I would differ only to say that laws deter entirely rational behavior. I am not going to engage in obstruction of justice, insider trading (if I had the opportunity) or tax evasion, both because they are wrong and the penalties far outweigh the illicit gains.

Impulsive, irrational , desperate, and suicidal people are never deterred by laws.

Keep posting them Jim!

I plan to. I will try to find a positive example next week. I don't want anyone to think I am obsessed with bombings.

- Jim

[anygunanywhere]

I would differ only to say that laws deter entirely rational behavior. I am not going to engage in obstruction of justice, insider trading (if I had the opportunity) or tax evasion, both because they are wrong and the penalties far outweigh the illicit gains.

Impulsive, irrational , desperate, and suicidal people are never deterred by laws.

- Jim

Do rational people need so many laws to guide their actions or is rational behavior objective?

Anygunanywhere

[seamusTX]

No. We're way past the point where the slate needs to be wiped clean.

Texas has sunset provisions that make old laws expire. Unfortunately, the feds do not, generally.

- JIm

[seamusTX]

Just a reminder that there is nothing new under the sun.

- Jim

[Lumberjack98]

I didn't know this either. Thanks for the lesson.

[C-dub]

Do rational people need so many laws to guide their actions or is rational behavior objective?
Anygunanywhere

Oh, good one! Good, honest, morally grounded people don't need a set of rules to keep them from wrong doing.

And how long have we had that Sunset law? It seems like we are always hearing about some ridiculous law that is 100 years old that is still on the books.

[seamusTX]

The Texas sunset law was passed in in 1977 and went into effect the next year.

I misunderstood it until now. The sunset law does not abolish all old laws; it abolishes agencies if they are not renewed: http://www.sunset.state.tx.us/faq.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As a practical matter, agencies are often renewed wholesale in the last hours of a legislative session, so not much changes. That's what happened with DPS last session.

- Jim

[joe817]

Good article seamus! Thanks for posting. I was unaware of that incident. Keep them coming!

[seamusTX]

Here's a list that I posted a while back: http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=18100" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[threoh8]

On May 18, 1927, 45 people were killed in the deadliest criminal act in U.S. history up to that time, a record that would remain intact until the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Not to argue or promote competition among the thugs and crazies, but what about the Happy Land Nightclub
arson?

1990. One loser, a can of gasoline and two matches: 87 killed.