Every Town - Florence, KY - Clay Shrout: Killer Hostage Taker

Episode Date: September 24, 2021

One day in 1994, a police officer arrested a juvenile, and the first thing he asked the teenage boy was “What’s going on?” He replied to the officer matter-of-factly, “I’ve had a bad day today…I’ve killed my whole family.” As if that wasn’t enough for a spring day gone wickedly awry, the boy had also kidnapped his prom date, bringing her along to his school where he held his entire Trigonometry class hostage. That 17 year old culprit was Northern Kentucky teen Clay Nathaniel Shrout, who, prior to committing cold-blooded murder, had been known as a bright and conscientious honor roll student. So how did things go so wrong? How did Clay end up staging the unfathomable juvenile crime that stunned Boone County, Kentucky? Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you love true crime, grab your favorite mug and pour yourself a dose of creepy true crime every single morning with a morning cup of murder. This short daily show is the perfect podcast to incorporate into your morning routine, because in less than 15 minutes, you'll hear about a true crime that took place on a day's date in history. Each day's dark history lesson will kickstart your morning with intriguing tales of murder, abduction, serial killers, cults, and everything in between. With over 20 million downloads, Morning Cup of Murder has something for every true crime lover. One listener describes the show as a small package with a powerful punch of crime. Another writes that the show is an absolute delight in the morning. Support yourself a piping hot cup of murder every single morning with Morning Cup of Murder. Find it on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every town has a dark side. Today we head to Florence, Kentucky, which is in Boone County, where we check out Clay Shrout, the juvenile who murdered his family and held his class hostage. One day in 1994, a police officer arrested a juvenile, and the first thing he asked the teenage boy was, what's going on? He replied to the officer, a matter of fact,ly, I've had a bad day today. I've killed my whole family. As if that wasn't enough for a spring day gone wickedly awry,

the boy had also kidnapped his prom date, bringing her along to his school where he held his entire trigonometry class hostage. That 17-year-old culprit was Northern Kentucky teen Clay Shrout, who, prior to committing cold-blooded murder, have been known as a bright and conscientious honor roll student. So how did things go so wrong? How did Clay end up staging the unfathomable crime that stunned Boone County, Kentucky? Hi, I'm Andy Fitzgerald and welcome to this week's episode of Everytown,

where we'll explore the May 1994 crimes of Clay Shrout. In a matter of just a few hours, Clay killed his parents and two sisters, and threatened the lives of 24 people. He readily admitted to his offenses, and for the past 26 years, he's been living his life behind bars. In this episode, we'll take a look back at the circumstances that steered Clay towards such violence.

As shocking as his actions were in the 90s, Clay has come out with recent revelations that send a second wave of disbelief in this mysterious story. The life of Clay Shrout was seemingly that of the perfect 90s All-American teen. His parents, Walter, and Becky Shrout, were graduates of the Christian institution, Georgetown College in Kentucky, where they'd met, became college sweethearts, and eventually got married. When they were in their mid-20s back in 1977, Walter and Becky had clay, the family's eldest child and only son, who became a brother to his sister Kristen and Lauren a few years later. The upper middle class Shrout family live comfortably

in their two-story home with a swimming pool out back and flower beds in the front yard. On the upscale, Tiburon Drive in Florence, Kentucky. The town is a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, and is known as one of the best places to live in Kentucky, offering its residents a mix of urban and suburban an atmosphere, adding warmth to their home with a shroud's roster of pets, which included a black Labrador, a poodle, a gerbil, and even two horses. The shroud couple brought up their kids in a religious household, and the family was actively involved with the Florence Christian Church. They were very supportive as well in allowing their children to pursue their interest and talents. The two girls were involved in gymnastics, played musical instruments, and rode the family

horses at shows. Clay attended Ryle High School and had his own Toyota pickup truck to drive to and from school. His teachers and classmates knew him as a well-behaved, diligent student, and Clay also won the approval of his friend's parents. One of the moms described him as a loving, but quiet teenage boy, who loved her cooking and her cooking in her. appreciated her hugs. Clay also earned praises at his part-time job at Raleigh's hamburgers in Florence, where he worked the takeout window for being polite and good with customers. People had an impression of Clay as a perfect teenager, but there was a dark side to him that perhaps only his closest friends were aware of. For instance, Clay loved flipping through

the pages of the anarchist cookbook, a 1971 publication that contains instructions for the manufacturing of explosives, among other things. Clay's friend said he didn't like violence, but months prior to executing his crimes, he became obsessed with death and gore. He and his group of friends spent time talking about different ways of killing people or themselves. This was manifested in the grotesque stories. Clay wrote for his creative writing class and in his interest in collecting knives, brass knuckles, and making pipe bombs. And then came a rough period in Clay's teenage life. While other teens make it through bleak times, Clay Shrout was overtaken by the darkness. In 1993, Clay started going to the Florence Christian church less

frequently, and that year's Mother's Day service was the last one he ever attended. He then had a few problems which only a few people knew about, including his friend, Dave Suarez. Like many teenage boys, Clay was infatuated with girls. He particularly fancied a certain girl who he tried to date only to be rejected by her. It dug a deep wound to the teenage boy's heart In December of 1993 and into 94, Clay began feeling more and more depressed. Dave and Clay had disclosed to a circle of friends that he used drugs and boasted about getting high. He also told his friends that he kept weapons for protection. The depression started affecting the honor students' grades.

Clay was failing in advanced placement class his parents had forced him to take and his grade in English dropped from a B-B-B. plus to an F in just one quarter. More heavy blows came in the spring of 94, in the weeks and days leading up to that fateful May 26th. Clay's English teacher called his parents to tell them that their son hadn't turned in a major assignment, this infuriated Clay, who told a friend that he wanted to shoot his English teacher, but his pal didn't take it seriously. I didn't tell anybody because who would have believed me, the friend said.

Ryle High School officials also reprimanded Clay for bringing a stun gun and bullets onto campus, and the once model student was required to do 50 hours of community service. The disappointment and anguish of Clay's parents was only aggravated when they caught their son with alcohol and weed. They grounded him for some time, took away his phone. car keys, and his collection of weapons. Moreover, Clay's parents prohibited him from listening to heavy metal and alternative rock music, including the group Nirvana, whose lead singer and guitarist Kirk Cobain had killed himself

just a month earlier that year. As tension was building, Clay decided to quit his job at Rally's hamburger. He was very distraught. He quit strangely. He just jumped out the window and left, said the store's general manager, Eric Butler. On May 24th, Clay took his last paycheck from rallies and told Butler how upset he was about the stun gun incident in school, and also how angry he was that his parents had taken away his car as punishment. And then on the following day, May 25th, Clay had a strange conversation

with his classmate, David Gardner. Well, sitting in their American history class, David recalled that Clay had asked him about the best way to kill somebody and whether a 22-caliber rifle would penetrate a human skull. David's reply was a question too. Why? Are you planning on shooting the person that turned you in for the stun gun incident or your parents? Clay answered no, but my parents are kind of just getting in the way. Nevertheless, no one could have imagined the horrors that would descend upon the Shrout home in Ryle High School just the following day. May 25th was quite a special day for the Shrout family.

The youngest of the brood, 12-year-old Lauren, played the Xylophone in a school concert. Proud parents, Walter and Becky, with their middle child, 14-year-old Christine, attended the show to support her. The concert was the last time the family would be seen alive because, of a sinister plan that Clay would put into motion on the morning of Thursday, May 26th. The timeline of how the events unfolded came from Clay himself during an interview after his arrest and from his best friend Richard Brown, whom Clay called on the phone after he committed the crimes. Clay set his alarm clock for 5 a.m. with these intentions. I was either going to

take some stuff and all the money I could find and leave, or I was going to kill my family and take some stuff and disappear. I didn't want to be stopped, so I decided I had to kill them. And he cold-heartedly and unflinchingly did just that. Upon waking up, Clay retrieved a loaded Colt Mustang 380 gun, which was kept in his father's car. Unfamiliar with how it functioned, he figured it out by emptying it, then reloading it. 15 minutes later, he walked into the bedroom of his parents who were still asleep.

Clay aimed the gun first as his 44-year-old mother, Becky, and shot her in between the eyes. She instantly died, and Clay immediately shot his father, Walter, as well. His next victim was his sister Kristen, who he fatally shot in the chest. On his way to his youngest sister, Lauren's room, Clay heard some noise in his parents' bedroom. him. His father was still alive, struggling to get out of bed. So Clay shot him two more times until he was lifeless. Lauren, the youngest child, had been awakened by the noise and encountered Clay in the hallway. He calmed her down, got her back to bed, and when she closed her eyes, Clay shot her in the top of the head. By 5.45 a.m., Clay had annihilated his entire immediate family.

By 6 a.m., he opened up about his crimes to his best friend Richard Brown and told him, I wish it was a dream. I wish I could wake up. But the nightmare wasn't over yet, and Clay continued to wreak a path of destruction. Clay had planned on disappearing after killing his family, but he didn't. He left their house immediately, but drove around aimlessly. I couldn't remember if I was going to go anywhere or not, he said. He stopped by some juice at the convenience store, a merriss stop, across the street from Ryle High School, and mumbled at a passer-by. You don't even know what I just did. From there, Clay drove to a nearby subdivision, called a female friend, and told her that he had just killed his family. But she found his story unbelievable, and so she ignored it. It was then that

Clay went into the house of Danielle Bush and Union, his prom date just some weeks earlier. She studied at another school and was on an early summer break. When she opened the door, Clay grabbed her arm, pulled out his gun, and told her to go quietly to his car. They drove to Ryle High School where Clay was five minutes late for his 8.30 a.m. trigonometry class, taught by Miss Carol Kennebroskey. It was unusual for the junior high honor student to walk in late since he usually arrive on time, quietly, and well-prepared. Even more odd that day was that Clay brought along an unfamiliar teenage girl. When they entered room, 203, Clay calmly told his teacher to lock the door, and she asked for an explanation.

He said someone had gone crazy and was taking a class hostage that morning. when Miss Kennebrowski asked who was doing it. Clay replied, it's me. Then he took out his gun. He sat down on the teacher's chair while Danielle sat silently on a desk in front of him. He cocked his gun while looking at his 22 classmates sitting at their desks. And Cooley told Miss Kennebrosky to teach. The class went on reviewing for next week's exams, while the veterans, trigonometry teacher, moved calmly around the classroom answering her student's queries. When Ms. Kennebrowski asked Clay how she could help him, the hostage taker told her not to bother him, and he wouldn't do anything to hurt her. After a few minutes, a female senior high school student knocked on the door asking Ms. Kennebrowski to sign an absence for him. The teacher's trembling hands indicated that something was wrong, which was confirmed when Ms. Kennebrowski softly mouthed the words, he has a gun. The student immediately informed assistant principal, Stephen Sorrell,

and he in turn called the police. An announcement that signaled there was an emergency was then made on the school's PA system. At 8.48 a.m., Mr. Sorrell knocked on the door of room 203. He asked Clay to come out of the room to talk, but the student refused and said he wanted to remain inside. Mr. Sorrel, who was Clay's algebra teacher the previous year, struck a bargain. They talked inside the classroom after Clay had released his classmates and teacher, who were then evacuated to a first-floor cafeteria. The assistant principal asked for the pistol, but Clay didn't budge. about that time police officer pete shirlo arrived at room two o three and reached for his gun

clay saw that and he immediately gave his weapon to mr sorrel and so at eight fifty two a m the ordeal ended clay had turned from being an ideal son student and employee to a murderer a hostages taker and a captive. It was Jeff Martin, commander at the time of Boone County Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division, who interviewed Clay after he was apprehended. The teenager confessed to killing his family and detailed why he committed such heinous crimes. He said that his parents had the right to take away his phone and his truck since they paid for them, but Clay deeply resented that they took away his weapons and it really triggered something in him. As for his relationship with his parents, Clay admitted that he got along really

well with his dad. He got frustrated every time he was around his mom, so they argued a lot, but still, Clay said he didn't hate her. He also resented his parents for making certain decisions for him, like going to college. I resented them, trying to make me out a special mold without asking me what I really wanted to be first, he lamented. But why I take it? the lives of his sisters when they had nothing to do with his resentments. Clay explained that he shot Kristen and Lauren because he didn't want them to live without their parents. Also, Kristen was old enough to call a police and a juvenile criminal didn't want his plan stopped. Clay then shared his most profound feelings. I felt trapped in a way like there is no room for me anymore in society. Clay's

Shrout was charged and pled guilty for the murder of his parents and siblings. The charges related to his abduction of Danielle Bush and the hostage-taking incident at Ryle High School were dropped as part of a plea deal so he could avoid the death penalty. There was no trial, and the judge declared Clay guilty, but mentally ill. His lead attorney, Ed Drennan, submitted psychiatric records to further substantiate the contention that Clay was mentally ill. However, those records were ordered sealed by the court and are not accessible. On October 14, 1994, Clay as a 17-year-old juvenile criminal, was then sentenced to life without parole. When he turned 18 on February 24, 1995, Clay was resentenced and committed to the custody of the Kentucky Department of Corrections as an adult.

During his first 10 years in jail, Clay had chalked up 29 pages of disciplinary actions and the four facilities he was incarcerated in. Among his offenses were possession of a 10-inch L-shaped stainless bar in the makings of a knife and attempts to escape. The time behind bars gradually changed Clay for the better. He learned carpentry and car repair and helped other inmates complete their GEO. and since proclaiming his Christian faith in 2002, he hasn't had any disciplinary issues. Because of this good behavior, Clay became eligible for parole in 2019.

During the hearing on March 20th that year, a remorseful and mature Clay Shrout appeared. There, the convicted murderer claimed that the root of his criminal acts stemmed from the sexual abuse he suffered as a child, which he only came to terms with after he was jailed. Perhaps most shocking was his revelation that it was his mother Becky who sexually abused him, which sometimes happened during bath time. Although his father knew about it, he didn't do anything at all. Clay said he had visited a therapist when he was a kid, but it hadn't brought him any comfort. Thus, while in prison, he never sought any mental health, behavioral,

or substance abuse counseling beyond one visit with a psychologist. When a parole board member asked Clay if he deserved to be paroled, the 42-year-old criminal gave an unexpected reply. I hate what happened, and I hate the way my life has turned out. It started out bad, and it got worse, and I made it worse. I don't like the word deserve, because I still don't feel okay about what I've done. evidently, the Kentucky Parole Board agreed with Clay's sentiment because they denied his freedom after his first time up for parole. The seriousness of the crime, the involvement of the weapon, and the associated drug and alcohol abuse were all factors in their decision.

Moreover, Clay must seek mental health and anger management counseling for his next parole hearing scheduled for May of 2021. All Clay said he wants is to get involved in a church and attend an inmate program and possibly find a job repairing cars if granted parole. But he has to wait for 120 months more to prove to a judge that he truly deserves to be a free man again. So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. Tune in next week for another episode filled with scary, strange and mysterious stories, and who knows, maybe your town will be next. Convierre your passion in a business with Shopify, and bathe records of ventas with the form of pay with a better conversion of the world.

Has you heard it? The Mereld Conversion of the world. The incredible system of Pago of Shopify facilitates the sites on your site web, in the networks, and in whatever place. That is music for your Oh, no, you'll Do you guys Your business

will be a super-exit with Shopify. Empecies your period of per year for a euro at per month in Shopify.

coms BarreCords