Murder In America - EP. 114 Completely RANDOM: Spree Killer LEVI KING

Starting point is 00:00:00 This week's episode is sponsored by Hocum, the new film that critics are calling Damian McCarthy's most unnerving horror yet. From the director of Oddity, Hocom stars Adam Scott, in a deeply monstrous horror that bloody disgusting called pure nightmare fuel that holds you firmly in its grip. Don't miss Hocom, the groundbreaking new horror from Damian McCarthy, now playing in theaters. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. is a journey. I know this. I think we all know this. Some days feel good and other days feel absolutely overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy sometimes to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is, nobody has all the answers. And no journey should be taken alone. However, having someone with you to listen, to understand,

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Starting point is 00:04:05 by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. In the bottom corner of Missouri, there's a small town named Anderson,

Starting point is 00:04:25 with a population of less than 2,000 people, It's the kind of place where people are friendly with one another. And if you were to walk down Main Street, you'll probably run into a few familiar faces. It's also a place where people lend a helping hand. So on September 29, 2005, when 47-year-old Don McCool learned that her father-in-law needed groceries, she offered to go with him. Orly McCool was now in his 70s. and daily tasks weren't as easy as they used to be, so Don was happy to assist.

Starting point is 00:05:04 The two would spend about an hour at the grocery store that afternoon, stocking up on everything he needed that week. And when they were finished, they loaded all of the bags into the back of his pickup truck and started the five-mile drive back to his house. During it all, Don and Orley caught up with one another. I'm sure they even shared a few laps. completely unaware that their lives were just minutes away from ending. Once they got back to Orly's house, they both grabbed as many grocery bags as they could. That way they wouldn't have to make multiple trips to and from the truck. Such a normal habitual task that we all know very well.

Starting point is 00:05:48 Loaded with arms full of plastic bags, Don made her way inside, with Orly following close behind. close behind. But little did they know a stranger was hiding within the home, waiting for them, with a loaded 9mm Smith and Wesson. As Dawn and Orley made their way towards the kitchen, the stranger emerges and fires a shot directly into Orley's head. The stranger then turns his attention to Don, shooting her in the lower torso. The groceries scatter across the the floor and Don drops to the ground writhing in pain. In the last seconds of her life, she watches as this stranger nears closer, firing multiple rounds into her body. This double

Starting point is 00:06:42 homicide in Anderson, Missouri, had no motive other than someone with an overwhelming desire to kill. Once Dawn is dead, the stranger leaves in Orley's car, and he flees the the state of Missouri, but his reign of terror is far from over. After destroying one family, he takes a cross-country road trip in a stolen vehicle until he comes across another family, whose lives will also change forever. At the end of it all, this monster named Levi King would take the lives of five people and change the lives of countless others. This is the story. story of spree killer Levi King. I'm Courtney Browen and I'm Colin Browne and you're listening to murder in America. My Alexis King was born in rural Arkansas in 1982 and from the beginning

Starting point is 00:08:51 life was a little rough for him and his six siblings his parents would separate in 1987 when Levi was just five years old and following their divorce all the kids went to live in Pineville, Missouri with their father Scott King and he was a very lenient parent his home which everyone called the King House was buried deep in the woods with no running water, no indoor plumbing or electricity. It was also very unsafe and dirty. People that knew the family said that there were exposed wires everywhere, open insulation throughout the house, and wild animals that would wander throughout it during the day. Scott King also had no rules for his young children. He was preoccupied with a drug addiction at the time, so the kids were free to run around and do what they wanted.

Starting point is 00:09:37 He would even let them draw on the walls with markers and drink alcohol in the backyard. Levi's younger sister Jade had a friend named Rebecca Mitchell, who spent a good amount of time at the King House growing up. She would later say that the children would often drink and smoke marijuana, and that she herself witnessed Scott King smoking weed with a six-year-old child. So it was not a very stable home. It was, however, a very popular hangout spot for all the neighborhood kids. Scott King was well liked among Levi's friends because he let them do whatever they wanted. And if the police ever got involved, he would even lie for them.

Starting point is 00:10:25 Rebecca Mitchell said that looking back on everything, they lived a really sad life. Scott didn't even make any of his children go to school. If they didn't want to go, they didn't have to. But even though Scott was lenient in a lot of areas, he had a very violent temper and he was known to take all of his frustrations out on his family. Levi's older sister Prairie said that when she was a little girl, she watched her dad throw her mom up against a wall and hold a gun up to her head. The other children also witnessed Scott beating her and when his hands got tired from the beating, he would switch over to a paddle, hitting her over and over until she couldn't even

Starting point is 00:11:12 stand up. Eventually, his wife got tired of the abuse, so she left. And Scott started directing his anger towards his children. And it wasn't just physical abuse, but emotional abuse as well. Trigger warning, this next part includes horrific descriptions of animal abuse. But many memories from Levi's childhood included his father shooting their pets right in front of him. One time, Levi found a box of stray puppies in the woods, and Scott made him watch as he shot into the box with a shotgun, killing all of them. This was devastating to Levi. He got so upset with his father, he ran back into their house and didn't talk to him for days.

Starting point is 00:12:05 These things clearly had a huge effect on Levi's upbringing, and after a while, he started acting out. When Levi was just four years old, he and his sister got into an argument, and in retaliation, he set her room on fire at four years old. By age 12, Levi was drinking heavily, and by 13 he was popping pills. And it's around this time where he starts to follow in his father's footsteps. Scott was always known to have an arsenal of weapons at their house. He had guns, knives, swords, and hatchets that all of the children had access to. And as Levi grew up, he became overly fascinated with his father's weapons. On one occasion, Levi went into his dad's room and grabbed an SKS,

Starting point is 00:13:02 semi-automatic rifle. He was in the mood to hunt, but instead of finding a deer or hogs, he came across a stray cat. The apple must not fall far from the tree, because Levi decided to shoot the cat until there was nothing left of it. Now from what we've covered so far,

Starting point is 00:13:26 Levi has set fires and abused animals at a very young age, which are two of the three of the three, three behaviors seen in the McDonald triad. The MacDonald triad is three behaviors that are sometimes seen in the childhoods of sociopaths and serial killers. In 1963, a psychiatrist named John McDonald published a paper about how they often see these children set fires, wet the bed, and harm animals. We aren't sure if Levi King ever struggled with bedwetting, but he did set fires and kill

Starting point is 00:13:56 animals, so he did show signs of early violent behavior. And the older he got, it was clear that Levi held a lot of resists. resentment towards his dad. At some points, he even contemplated killing him, but he never followed through with it because he didn't want to hurt his younger siblings who needed him. However, Levi's older sister, Prairie, would eventually leave their home to escape the abuse. She went to live with relatives across the country, but she always felt guilty that she wasn't able to save her siblings from the horrors within their home. By the time Levi was 15 years old, he had dropped out of school. And by age 17, he was committed to a mental institution because of his excessive drug abuse.

Starting point is 00:14:45 They evaluated him on October 24, 1999, and he told the doctors that he wanted a gun and a pen so he could leave a suicide note and kill himself. He also told them that he hears voices over the phone, voices that aren't actually there. When they asked him to elaborate on these voices, Levi said that he had been hearing them since he was 11 years old. It was also noted that he admittedly tried to kill himself on multiple occasions, and that he had a very bad drug problem. Following this, he would get diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and psychosis. But it's in the year 2002 when we were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and psychosis. start to see Levi take a turn for the worse. That year, tragedy would strike the King household

Starting point is 00:15:43 when Levi's younger brother was in an accident. His name was Spencer and he was only 13 years old. One day Spencer and his friend were hanging out at their house when his dad, Scott, gave them a gun to shoot around on the property. Spencer and his friend were playing with it in the backyard when all of a sudden, the gun went off. Spencer's friend had accidentally shot him, and sadly, he would die from his injuries. This incident was devastating for Levi and his other siblings. And to make matters worse, after Spencer's funeral, Scott King made all of his kids go outside and shoot guns on the property.

Starting point is 00:16:32 Apparently he did this because he didn't want to be. children to be afraid of guns after their brother was killed by one. The entire situation was incredibly traumatic. And many people believe that this was the start of Levi's downfall. Later that year in 2002, Levi decided to burglarize a neighbor's home. And then afterwards, he burned their house down. Now, I'm not sure if he burned it down to hide evidence, or if he did it out of pleasure. But if I had to guess, I would assume the latter since he had a history of burning things down.

Starting point is 00:17:14 And it didn't take long for the authorities to find out who did it. And Levi King was promptly arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison. And if only he were to have served out his full sentence. For whatever reason, Levi only served three years of his sentence before they released him to a halfway house in St. Louis, Missouri. But his time there was brief. On September 23, 2005, Levi was tired of the conditions he had to live in, so he just left, without telling anyone where he was going. He ended up hitchhiking to his mom's house in Pineville, Missouri, where he stayed for a couple of days, but she would eventually drive him back over to his

Starting point is 00:18:04 dad's house. And by this point, Levi and his father had a very strained relationship, to the point where they often got physical with each other during arguments, so when he showed up that day, he didn't get a very warm welcome. After a couple of days, the two started fighting again, and Scott told him he had to leave. Levi was very upset about this because he didn't have anywhere to go, but Scott didn't care. He told Levi, he said Levi, he was taking him to the bus stop that next morning, and that's exactly what he did. On September 29th, at 7 a.m., he forced Levi into his truck, and they made their way towards the bus stop. Levi was supposed to take the bus to Anderson, Missouri. I think maybe he was going

Starting point is 00:18:42 to stay with some friends or family members, but it was clear Levi didn't want to go, and he was in a horrible mood the entire drive. Along the way, he asked his dad to stop so he could go use the restroom. Scott pulled in somewhere, Levi got out of the truck to do his business, but after a few minutes, he still hadn't come back. Scott waits around for a while longer, but it's becoming clear that Levi took off. And by now, Scott is fed up with him, and he's running late for work, so he decides to leave. What he didn't realize, however, is that after his son stepped out of his truck, Levi King would go on a killing spree across the United States, leaving five innocent people dead. After pretending to go to the restroom, Levi ran off. He was angry. and he felt rejected and abandoned.

Starting point is 00:19:32 But more than anything, he wanted to release some of his frustrations. So he ended up walking back to his dad's house. There was an old broken down car on the property that Levi decided to hide in until he watched his father leave for work. And once the coast was clear, Levi quickly entered through the front door and began throwing and breaking everything in sight. It felt good to get back at his father, but vandalizing his property wasn't enough. Following this, he goes to his dad's room, where he kept his guns.

Starting point is 00:20:11 Those guns were his father's prized possessions, so Levi decided to steal some. He didn't have the key to the gun cabinet, so he grabbed a hatchet and began hacking away for nearly 20 minutes until he gained entry. From here, Levi stole an AK-47, a hunting rifle, a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson pistol, and a lot of ammunition. He then quickly shoved it all into a backpack and took off down the road. Along the walk, Levi's tension was growing, and it's here where he decides to vandalize another home in the area. So he hides his backpack in the woods and puts the 9mm in his waistband just in case he needs to use it. And as he's walking around, eyeing the different homes, he runs into an elderly woman on a rural dirt road. For whatever reason, Levi has no ill intentions with this woman, but his ears do perk during their conversation.

Starting point is 00:21:06 She starts talking about a stray horse that belongs to a man named Orly McCool. Levi had heard the name before, and from what he assumed, the McCool family had some money. So after his conversation with this woman, he knew exactly where he was headed. Orly McCool was 70 years old and had just recently sold his restaurant called State. He had worked hard his entire life and was looking forward to enjoying his retirement with his wife, Wilma. At the time of our story, Wilma was out of town and Orley needed help getting groceries, so he decided to call his daughter-in-law, 47-year-old Don McCool. Don was described by everyone as a devoted mother to her son, Matthew, and a great person,

Starting point is 00:21:44 who always put other people's needs above her own. So when Orley called her that day and asked her to help get groceries, she jumped at the opportunity. Don arrived at 340 Pleasant Ridge Road, a little after 1230 that afternoon, and she and Orley hopped in his truck and made their way to the town and country supermarket, about five miles away. As Orley and Don drove off in his 2005 Dodge Dakota, Levi King was off in the distance, watching them. It was the perfect opportunity.

Starting point is 00:22:14 He had been planning on burglarizing Orly's home, and luckily for him, he just left. This gave him ample time to break in and take whatever he needed before Orly came back. So Levi walks around the home looking for an easy entrance, and he eventually finds a bathroom window that's unlocked. Levi climbs through, gaining entry. And from here, he makes himself at home, casually walking through, looking for valuables. During his search, he finds a pistol and a few of us.

Starting point is 00:22:50 other items, but he quickly realized that the McColls were not as wealthy as he thought they were. There was no cash, diamonds, no expensive electronics, or anything really. He continues to look for a few more minutes, but he's interrupted by the sound of a truck coming down the driveway. Orley and Don were back much quicker than he expected. But instead of sneaking out of the bathroom window, he's He comes up with another plan. Levi runs over to the office area by the front door, pulling his gun from his waistband. He knew right then that he was going to kill them and that nothing would stand in his way. In the meantime, Orly and Don are outside, grabbing as many groceries as they can.

Starting point is 00:23:43 Levi hears them open the front door. And soon enough he sees Don make her way down the stairs. with an arm full of groceries. I'll kill her second, he thinks to himself. Next he sees 70-year-old Orly McCool. For a brief moment, Orly actually sees something out of the corner of his eye. But as he goes to turn, Levi emerges, brandishing his 9mm pistol. And before Orley could even comprehend what was happening, Levi fires the gun directly into his left temple. killing him instantly. Everything seemed to happen so quickly.

Starting point is 00:24:27 So Don was confused when she heard a loud bang up the stairs. She paused for a moment, then suddenly saw a stranger heading in her direction. Dawn tried to get away, but soon enough, bullets came flying towards her. She tried to hide behind a pillar, but her lower body was still visible to the shooter. and soon enough one of the bullets would hit her lower hip. Don quickly dropped to the ground, moaning in pain as she tried to crawl to safety. But Levi King was right behind her, and over the next few moments he stood over her, firing multiple shots into her body.

Starting point is 00:25:12 Once he was sure she was dead, he put the gun back into his waistband and grabbed the keys to Orley's brand new truck. Because he didn't find any valuables there, the lease he could do was have a vehicle to drive around in. Levi hopped into the truck and took a few seconds to take in everything that just happened. And for the first time in his life, he felt an overwhelming sense of peace. It was euphoric. In all of the struggles and worries he had been facing, they didn't matter in that moment. It was the release he had been searching for all of his life. He would later say in an interview with A&E,

Starting point is 00:25:57 I don't know how to describe the exact feeling, but it was as close as I've ever known to peace. Everything had just ceased. All the anger and the fear from the years prior to that was just washed away in that instant. As Levi King drove down Orly McCool's driveway and took off down the road, the town of Anderson, Missouri had no idea

Starting point is 00:26:14 that one of its worst crimes yet had just taken place. and Levi wants to get as far away as possible before someone makes the gruesome discovery. So from here, he goes back to the woods to grab the rest of his weapons and then skips town in the stolen truck with no idea where he was heading next. And he didn't care where he was going either. He was just driving around, soaking up the euphoria he felt from his first kill. Levi ended up driving for hours down the freeway going south. He went all the way through Oklahoma and eventually crossed the state line into Texas.

Starting point is 00:26:45 It was dark out and after 13 hours of driving, the seriousness of his crimes really started to set in. He was no longer feeling that release. Instead, he was overcome with anxiety. So his solution was to kill again. On the hunt for another victim, Levi decided to exit Highway 70 and drive down the desolate Texas roads. He passed a few houses along the way,

Starting point is 00:27:10 but for whatever reason, they just didn't feel right. So he kept driving. By now, it was three days. 348 a.m. And part of him was a little tired after a long day, so he pulled off on the side of the road to try and get some sleep. He tossed and turned for a few minutes, but he couldn't get comfortable. So he started the truck again and continued on down the road. At around 4 a.m., he drove through the small town of Pampa, Texas. There wasn't much around. Just miles and miles of green feet. But then he spots an isolated farmhouse up ahead, and right then he knew that he was going

Starting point is 00:27:56 to kill whoever was inside. The home was about 200 yards off the highway and surrounded by trees. It was far enough away that no one would ever be able to hear their screams, so Levi makes a U-turn, turns his headlights off, and carefully makes his way down their driveway. Once he was close enough, he gets out of his truck dressed in all black and he grabs his father's AK-47. He then approaches the back door of the house and immediately starts to kick it in. Unfortunately, he was able to gain entry pretty easily, giving the people inside no time to call for help. Once in the home, Levi notices a bedroom to his left.

Starting point is 00:28:46 It was the main bedroom of the house where 31-year-old Brian Conrad and his pregnant 36-year-old wife Michelle were in bed. They woke up to the sounds of an intruder, but it all happened so fast they couldn't do anything. And before they knew it, a stranger was standing in the doorway with an AK-47. Michelle let out a loud scream that was quickly interrupted when six bullets entered her body. Next, Levi turned his attention towards Brian and shot him three times. Also in the main bedroom was the family's dog Molly, who was shot twice. From here, Levi moves through the other rooms of the home. Michelle's two children from her first marriage were in the same.

Starting point is 00:29:39 their rooms as their parents were murdered in cold blood. Levi opens the door of Michelle's daughter, 10-year-old Robin Donne. He saw her lying in bed with the blanket pulled over her head. She must have known that something was going on. But this didn't stop him. He fired two shots at Robin and she let out a loud groan and fell to the floor. Satisfied, Levi moved on to the next room. where 14-year-old Zach was sleeping. For whatever reason, Levi decided to turn on the lights to Zach's bedroom before firing off his AK-47. Zach would get shot three times, but he didn't die right away. The 14-year-old let out some agonizing groans, and then he went completely silent. From here, Levi casually walked through the home, going through their belongings, and looking

Starting point is 00:30:43 at photographs of the family he just murdered. He even noted that they looked like good people, a stable family, something he wasn't used to. Levi also couldn't help but notice that these murders felt off. The first two murders of Orly and Don gave him the rest of Rye and the rest of Rely and Don gave him the rest of of a lifetime. But for whatever reason, after killing these four people, he felt nothing. There was no release, no sense of euphoria, just emptiness. Now at this point, the sun was beginning to rise, and Levi knew he needed to leave before daylight. He couldn't risk anyone seeing him out there. So he grabbed some food from their pantry, got back in the stolen

Starting point is 00:31:34 and Dodge and made his way down Highway 70. Like before, Levi had no idea of where he was headed, but part of him wanted to flee the country and head to Mexico before his crimes caught up with him. So that's exactly what he did. As Levi made his way to Mexico, Orly and Don McCool's family was growing worried after not hearing from them. Orly's nephew, Alan Sink, had been calling the two, but neither of them were answering.

Starting point is 00:32:03 So Alan calls Don Sincol's family. son, Matthew, but he hadn't heard from them either. And this was strange because Orly and Don always kept in touch with their family. Over the next few hours, both Matthew and Alan continue to call Don and Orly's phones. But with no answer, Alan decides to drive over to Orley's home and check on them. As he pulls up to the house, he noticed Orly's car wasn't there. It was also eerily quiet, and there was no movement in the home. So Alan cautiously opens the front door, which was unlocked. He wasn't quite sure what he would find inside, but he definitely never expected what was ahead. There, on the ground, was Orley in a pool of his own blood, surrounded by bags of groceries.

Starting point is 00:32:44 I'm sure at first he figured it was a horrible accident, but then he saw a bullet casing on the ground next to his body, which told him he had been murdered. Alan then stepped over Orley's body and looked down the staircase where he saw Dawn. She too was dead in a pool of blood. Allen got out of the house as quickly as he could so he could call the police. And minutes later, he sees Matthew, Don's son, pulling up to the house. Alan had to give him the horrific news that his mom and grandpa had been murdered. The first responding officer was Deputy Sheriff Don Ruby, and as he entered the house to investigate the scene, he noticed that the bullet casing next to Orley's body was a Russian bullet, which was strange

Starting point is 00:33:23 because they apparently didn't have a lot of those in the area. Downstairs, authorities found Dawn with her purse still on her shoulder. Inside of it, they found a receipt from the town and country supermarket, timestamped at 153 p.m. Thursday, September 29, 2005. Given that Orly lived only five miles from the supermarket, they determined that the time of death was around 2 p.m. that day. But other than the shell casings found at the scene, they really didn't have a lot of evidence to work with.

Starting point is 00:33:51 And like any investigation, I'm sure they started by looking at the people, closest to them, like Matthew and Allen. After all, we know that most murders are committed by people close to the victim. A stranger coming into the home and killing two random people is just not very likely, but little did the police know that's exactly what happened that day. Now Anderson, Missouri is a small town, so investigators started interviewing potential witnesses, and they did run into a local resident named Shane Walters. He told the police that he saw a young white male walking down a road near Orley's house on the day of the murders. He said he had never seen the man before, but he looked just like another local named Scott King.

Starting point is 00:34:43 And as soon as he said this, one of the investigating officers' eyes widened. As he said, I just took a burglar report from the night before from Scott King. Just lives down their own. This was their first big break. As it turns out, a few hours after the murder of Orly and Dawn on September 29th, Scott King had called the McDonnell County Sheriff's Office to report a burglary at his house. When he got home from work that day, he saw that his place was trashed,

Starting point is 00:35:19 and that a number of his guns had been stolen. At the time, Scott also told the police that he believed his son Levi was the person responsible. Scott told the officers all about the big fight they had that day, taking him to the bus stop, and how Levi disappeared after going to use the restroom. So the cops were already on the lookout for Levi after Scott reported this. But after learning he was seen nearer. a murder scene, they really wanted to find him now. They figured he likely used one of his father's

Starting point is 00:35:56 guns to commit the murder. A few officers would go by Scott King's house that night, and Scott directed them to an area where the kids were known to shoot guns. The police looked around for a while, and there, on the ground of Scott's property were those same Russian bullet casings. The officers took them and sent them to the crime lab for a ballistics comparison. And 24 hours later, they learned that it was a match to the casings at the McCool residence. Finally, they knew who their suspect was, someone that they were very familiar with. Levi King's arrest in 2002 was big news in McDonnell County. It's not often people burglarize and burn down homes. And now they were issuing a warrant for a double homicide. Investigators also put out a nationwide be on the lookout

Starting point is 00:36:54 for Orly's 2005 Dodge Dakota, but finding Levi wouldn't be easy. No one knew where he was, and they definitely didn't know about the other homicides in Pampa, Texas. And while all of this was going down in Missouri, Levi had successfully crossed the border into Juarez, Mexico. He figured that if he was out of the United States, he would never have to pay for what he did. Of course, he would have to lay low because of extradition laws, but it would be a lot easier to hide out there than in the States. But he made a crucial mistake. As he was driving around, he wasn't paying attention, and he accidentally took a right turn onto a highway. And that very highway led him right back into the U.S. By the time he realized what was going on, there were no exits to turn back into Mexico.

Starting point is 00:37:41 So he had no other choice than to continue towards border control with his arsenal of weapons in the back of the truck. When he pulled up to the checkpoint, an agent asked for his ID, and they couldn't help but notice that he seemed incredibly nervous. He accidentally handed them two IDs. The border patrol agent then asked if Levi had any weapons in the car, and he replied that they did, so the agent told him to exit the vehicle. Levi was then detained and taken to a small interview room while the agent searched his truck. In the back, they found the AK-47, a 9-millimeter Smith and Wesson pistol and a 380 with a scoped rifle. They also saw the truck belonged to Orly McCool and that Levi was wanted for a double homicide in Missouri. When the agents confronted him with this information,

Starting point is 00:38:23 Levi barely showed any emotion. He knew it was all over for him, but it almost seemed like he didn't even care. From here, Levi King was handed over to the authorities in El Paso, Texas, where he spent 40 minutes telling the officers all about how he broke into his dad's house, stole his guns, and murdered two random strangers. When they asked him about his motive, why he did all this, he didn't even really have an answer. Here's a portion of that confession. Before I realized that, I mean, I had just pointed it had him to fire me. How many times did you fire? He's spun in the door you see this woman. Why explain to me why you shot at her? I was scared. I was, I mean, I didn't know what was going to happen to me. You know, I was panicking. Now, he went into great detail on the McCool murders,

Starting point is 00:39:30 but he didn't mention anything about the family he killed in Pampa. It's around this time when the authorities in Missouri find out that Levi King had been caught at the border. So they come all the way down to Texas to extradite him on capital murder charges. But along the trip back, Levi gets really chatty with some of the officers. He even goes into detail on how he could still smell the blood and gunpowder from the McCool murders and how that smell was better than any drug he had ever taken. It was clear that this man was a very sick individual and they didn't even know the worst of it. Back in Pampa, Texas, authorities had no idea who murdered the Conrad family. There was no motive, no DNA. or anything that pointed to someone in particular.

Starting point is 00:40:26 And that's because their suspect was randomly driving through town and decided to target them. Now back when Levi was dealing with border control, he did hand them Brian Conrad's ID, but for whatever reason no one ever made the connection. So the case was going cold with no real leads. In the meantime, Levi was being held without bail for for the double homicides in Missouri. But about a week into his incarceration, he told the prison officials that he wanted to speak with sheriff's deputy Don Ruby, the one who worked the McCool murders. Don wasn't sure what Levi wanted to talk about, but he went to the prison anyway.

Starting point is 00:41:14 In just minutes into their conversation, Levi tells him, quote, You know there's four more in Texas, right? Dawn was shocked, but also a little skeptical as to whether he was telling the truth. It's not uncommon for prisoners to lie about crimes for street cred or whatever. So he pressed Levi for more information, and he seemed to be oddly specific on what happened, saying he killed a mom and a dad and their two children. Now he couldn't remember what city it took place in, but he did say that it was near the panhandle and he remembered there being a large cross in the town. So following this, Don Ruby started calling around to all these different cities in Texas and there was one in Pampa, Texas.

Starting point is 00:42:08 But to his surprise, it wasn't a quadruple homicide. It was a triple. As it turns out, Robin Donne, Michelle's 10-year-old daughter, survived the shooting. In fact, the bullets missed her as Levi began shooting into her bedroom. But armed with this information, police now realize that Levi drove the stolen truck down I-40 through Oklahoma, down into Texas, where he randomly happened upon their home. They even tested the AK-47 found in his possession, and it was a perfect match to the bullets that killed Michelle, Brian, and Zach. So in March of 2006, Levi King was indicted on two counts of homicide Missouri and three counts of homicide in Texas. If convicted, he faced the death penalty in Missouri and possibly in Texas as well.

Starting point is 00:43:05 At first, Levi pleaded not guilty to the McCool and Conrad murders, but in April of 2008, he agreed to plead guilty if the prosecutors took the death penalty off the table. And so they did. Levi was then sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in the Missouri case. During the sentencing at the Pulaski County Circuit Court in Waynesville, Missouri, Levi took the stand. He spoke to the court about his frequent drug use and childhood abuse, but ultimately took responsibility saying, quote, I'm not going to blame it on anything. I did it, I'm guilty, I'm responsible, end quote. Following this, on July 10, 2008, Levi was brought to Texas and turned over to authorities of the Hemp Hill County Sheriff.

Starting point is 00:43:47 But after almost a year, he still didn't have a trial. His defense attorney, Joe Mar Wilson, actually filed a motion for the charges against Levi to be dropped, stating that a violation occurred because he wasn't tried within 120 days of being brought back to Texas. But on May 26, 2009, the Court of Appeals denied the request and sentencing started on September 4, 2009. And in this trial, the district attorney refused to take the death penalty. penalty off the table. In his eyes, Robin Doan had gone through so much and was up to the jury to

Starting point is 00:44:18 decide Levi's fate. At 8 a.m. on September 4th, the sentencing phase of the Conrad murders began. Levi's defense attorney, Joe Wilson, gave a lengthy opening statement regarding Levi's childhood abuse and neglect. He painted a picture of Levi as the victim after his father exposed to to marijuana, meth, and heroin. He showed pictures of Scott King's home and the poverty and filth that Levi was exposed to. Prairie, Levi's older sister, took the stand and told a jury about their unsanitary home and rough childhood. She cried as she spoke about the horrible memories she was forced to live with. She also read a letter that Levi had written to her while he was in jail awaiting trial. She read, I'm sorry there was such news to be told. I'm constantly

Starting point is 00:45:00 tormented by how much pain I caused. Please forgive me for any way this horrendous Act has become a part of your life. She recounted that Scott King never made them go to school, and she had dropped out in 11th grade. She went on to complete her GED and got a job as a store manager at an auto parts store near Dallas, Texas. She wanted the jury to know that she wasn't trying to make excuses for what her brother had done, but wanted the jury to know that the environment in which they were raised was horrific. As she spoke, she started to cry and said,

Starting point is 00:45:29 What kind of father gives his children drugs? Several members of Levi's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also took the stand in his defense. One was a woman who taught Levi during Sunday school when he was a child. She spoke about Scott King and how he was a worthless father and deserved to be in jail himself. She said Levi had always been a pleasant child in her class. Although she only saw him once a week for 40 minutes, there wasn't enough time to instill the values of God. At one point, she looked over at Levi and said, there's a lot of people that still love you Levi.

Starting point is 00:46:01 It was also mentioned that Levi suffered from numerous mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, and psychosis. The prosecution began with a really eye-opening statement, saying, quote, imagine you were at home with your family, sound asleep early in the morning. You think everything is fine and you feel safe, but then the unthinkable happens, end quote.

Starting point is 00:46:28 From here, the DA walked the jury through a minute-by-minute explanation of everything Levi King did in the early morning hours of September 30, 2005. And as you can imagine, the entire courtroom listened in horror. One thing that we didn't mention already was Robin's perspective on the night her entire family was murdered. That night, she said she was actually having a nightmare. when she woke up at 4 a.m. to the sounds of her mother screaming. Being 10 years old, she was confused, and she didn't really know what was going on. So she got out of bed and crouched down by her bedroom door. Scared, she cautiously poked her head out into the hallway, where she saw a dark figure emerge from her parents' bedroom. The man was headed right towards her, so she quickly

Starting point is 00:47:27 She finally ran back to her bed and pulled the covers over her head. It was at this time when Levi pushed her bedroom door open, he saw Robin's silhouette lying on her bed and fired two shots in her direction. Robin said that she could feel the bullets landing right next to her left arm and leg. And even though she was under the covers, she will never forget the bright flashes of light from the gunshots, but luckily they missed her. And Robin was smart. Knowing this stranger was dangerous, she let out a loud grunt and rolled her body onto the floor as if she was dead. Then Levi King walked out of her room and moved on to her brothers. For the next few minutes Robin lay frozen on the ground as she listened to her brother die in the room over.

Starting point is 00:48:25 Robin stayed on the floor for a while after this. Levi King thought everyone in the home was dead, so from here, he casually walked through the house, looking at pictures and going through the family's belongings. Robin could hear him opening doors, picking up stuff and setting it down. And the entire time, she stayed on her bedroom floor, frozen in fear. Even after Levi left the home, Robin still couldn't move. Her mother had hung a robe on her door. So every time she dared to open her eyes, she saw what looked like a figure. She assumed that the intruder was standing in her doorway, watching her, so she never moved. A few hours later, Robin woke up and the sun was shining into her bedroom.

Starting point is 00:49:22 It was around 7 a.m. And even though the previous night seemed like a horrible dream, she knew that it was real. And I know this doesn't have anything to do with this story, but I have been noticing some similarities that I want to mention with the Idaho murders. I have been non-stop looking into that case where four college students were murdered in their off-campus apartment. Allegedly by a man named Brian Coburger. Now in this story, one of the roommates heard the murders happening right outside of her bedroom door and she even saw the intruder walking around afterwards. So that's very similar to this situation with Robin.

Starting point is 00:50:08 But that roommate got a lot of hate for waiting until the next morning to alert the police. And I think this story just goes to show that sometimes when something so traumatic happens, our brains go into this self-preservation mode. And sometimes locking yourself in your bedroom is better than seeing the reality of what happened outside of it. And that's exactly what happened here. Scared for her life, Robin stayed on her bedroom floor until her body had given into exhaustion and she fell asleep.

Starting point is 00:50:47 But that next morning as she woke up, She noticed her home was eerily quiet and she knew she had to face her reality. As Robin exited her bedroom, she didn't want to see the carnage. So instead of going room to room, she immediately grabbed their house phone and ran outside to call 911. Here is that phone call. Sheriff's office, 911. I'm scared out in my house. I'm scared out.

Starting point is 00:51:23 Where are you, name? 71 42 highway 70 it's about 13.3 miles out from the bowling alley what's your name Robin don't my parents are oh Conrad and Brian Conrad I'm scared after this and I don't know what you Robin Jones yes ma'am Brian Conrad The one's in the fire department's coming too okay thank you so much you're coming vehicles are strange people around your home or anything no ma'am you didn't see a car drive off of any kind Oh, ma'am. You just heard the shots fired?

Starting point is 00:52:05 And I heard, I fall the lights on in the kitchen, so I'm assuming they stole some stuff. Okay. Right now, it's my blanket and my pillow. I'm just scared. I know you are. I'm scared. I'm a scared. I'm cold. I'm not.

Starting point is 00:52:52 I'm not. I'm not. I'm going to be there with you, okay? I'm okay. And at 7.24 a.m., a flow of police cars pulled up to her home to find her sitting on the tail gate of her stepfather's truck. She was clearly distraught, wearing purple pajamas with polar bears on them in white Nike socks. When she saw the police, she ran towards them saying, quote, there were so many shots, I heard my mommy screaming. Texas state trooper Chad Brooks hugged Robin,

Starting point is 00:53:30 and he put her in his patrol car to keep her safe while other responding officers secured the scene. He wanted to do whatever he could to help her. So he asked Robin if there was anything he could do for her. She told Brooks that one of the chores she usually does around this time was feeding the animals on their farm. So as officers were investigating the murder of her family, Brooks and Robin went to feed them. It was a horrific scene inside the Conrad house.

Starting point is 00:54:02 In the main bedroom, they found the bodies of Brian, Michelle, and their family dog Molly. They also couldn't help but notice that Michelle was six months pregnant. When they went to 14-year-old Zach's bedroom, it looked as if he had been shot in his sleep and never knew what horrors were in the house that night. It was also apparent that the person responsible for the Conrad home murders broke in through a back door and began shooting immediately. The officers would later ask Robin how many shots she heard that night, and she said 15,

Starting point is 00:54:29 which was accurate. Officers found 15 bullet casings. They also found shoe prints and tire tracks in the driveway, but no deal. DNA evidence. But they also said it was strange because the home seemed eerily normal. The coffee pot in the kitchen was time to start brewing in the morning. Most items weren't out of place. The home was clean and orderly and there didn't seem to be any valuables taken. So for a while, the officers were stumped as to who could have harmed this family. It clearly wasn't a robbery because nothing was taken, so it almost looked like these murders were

Starting point is 00:55:01 personal. But Brian was known throughout town for his upbeat personality and willingness to help anyone who needed it. He and his wife Michelle liked to organize barbecues with their Farm Bureau friends. She had recently quit her job in June as a secretary at the Farm Bureau to prepare for the arrival of their new baby. They were good people who didn't have any enemies. Some people theorized that it was a hit in retaliation for Brian Conrad reporting theft on his farm after ammonia was stolen. Brian ran a large farm and used ammonia for fertilizer. However, ammonia is also an ingredient used to make methamphetamine. According to a local news report, the manufacturer and trafficking of meth was a current problem in the Texas panhandle in 2005. So at the time,

Starting point is 00:55:42 all of these rumors were spreading around Pampa as to who could have harmed the Conrad family. But the most accurate information they had was from the only surviving family member, Robin Dohn. Following the murders, Robin was taken by police to a child advocacy center called the Bridge, where a therapist interviewed her about what took place in the house during the early morning hours of September 30th. The young girl was taken to a room equipped with a microphone phone and camera and asked a series of questions. Do you know why you are here today? To talk about what happened this morning. I have a question. Do I really have to talk about what happened this morning again? Because I've told people and told people and it just crushes me

Starting point is 00:56:24 every time I say it. I can't really talk about that again. Okay. I really don't want to go to sleep anymore. It makes me to where I'm too scared. I really don't want to go to sleep, okay? Did you hear anybody say anything? Could you hear anybody talking? Nobody talked. What do you remember? Can you describe what he looked like? I don't know this for sure, but I thought I saw white eyes, a white face, but I can't talk about it. It's too heartbreaking. Authorities couldn't help but draw a parallel to the Conrad execution and a murder that occurred back in 1959 in Holcomb, Texas. On November 15, 1959, Herbert Clutter, his wife Bonnie, and their two children, Kenyon and Nancy, were brutally murdered

Starting point is 00:57:13 in their isolated farmhouse after two ex-prisoners heard the clutters had a large stash of money in a safe. The murders would go on to inspire Truman Capote's famous novel in Cold Blood, and we actually previously covered those murders on our show. The episode is way back in our library if you want to go listen to it. After hearing from another prisoner, while they were in jail that the clutters were wealthy, the two men, Richard Eugene Hickok and Perry Edward Smith, drew up a plan after their release to rob the house. But things didn't go as planned when it was discovered

Starting point is 00:57:41 that there was no safe and no money. Instead of leaving the clutter house, the two men decided to execute the family in cold blood. According to a police officer that worked the case, he couldn't help but think of the high-profile clutter murders from the 1950s. In an interview with a local newspaper, he said, quote,

Starting point is 00:57:58 It's the first thing I thought of the next day. these were just normal good people who by being at home ended up being in the wrong place and quote and sadly these cases were eerily similar these were good people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time their home just happened to be along the very road levi king was driving on that night and out of all the places he could have chosen he picked them and the craziest part is no one would have ever known who did it if levi wouldn't have confessed after the murders robin had to try to adjust to her new life. She ended up moving in with her dad who lived right outside of Pampa. But everywhere she went, people kind of treated her like a spectacle. After all, this was the

Starting point is 00:58:37 biggest crime the town of Pampa had ever seen. So when she went places, everyone would stare at her. She often found herself hunkering down in her dad's truck trying to avoid the staring. She would later tell the Texas monthly. I stayed out of school for a couple months, and when I went back, other kids didn't know what to say to me. I sort of felt like a freak. But throughout the years, Robin learned how to cope with this new life. And by the time the trial started, she was grown up, now 14 years old. But now she had to relive that horrible night. Trials are never easy for victims to sit through.

Starting point is 00:59:10 When it was time to bring forward witnesses, DA Switzer brought in the dispatcher who spoke with 10-year-old Robin the morning of the murders. Robin's 911 call was played for the jury as Levi sat at the defense table and stared straight ahead showing no emotion. The call was hard to listen to for surviving family members of the Conrad's. Some cried, and others were so emotional they had to leave the courtroom. The prosecution also brought forward many Grey County police officers that responded to the scene, but the most harrowing testimony of all was from Robin herself, the sole survivor of the murders. Before the trial, D.A. Switzer had regularly visited Robin,

Starting point is 00:59:46 partly because she was going to be the star witness at Levi's trial. Switzer said that she tried to get Robin to speak with a therapist, but she wasn't ready to talk with anyone just yet. Robin was still so traumatized by everything that happened. Switzer would later tell the Texas Monthly, Robin was the kind of child who put on a very brave face in front of other people. She would say, I can handle this.

Starting point is 01:00:15 I'm strong. And I'd say, Robin, I know you're brave, honey. It's got to be tearing you up. And she'd say, I'm fine. Let's talk about something else. else." Closer to the trial, a therapist even told Robin that she didn't have to testify if she

Starting point is 01:00:33 didn't want to. They were pretty confident they would get a conviction without her testimony. But by that point, Robin was ready to talk. The thought of confronting her family's killer was scary, but she knew it was something she had to do. In an interview with 48 hours, she would say, quote, I tried to avoid her family. avoid looking at Levi King as long as I possibly could. And finally, I couldn't resist the urge anymore. Because I wanted to see who had actually done this. And so I looked at him. And the stare

Starting point is 01:01:11 that I got back was the worst feeling of my entire life. He is very cold. He is very blank. And essentially, it just felt like he was staring a hole right through me. When Robin entered the courtroom that was filled with family and friends and many other Pampa residents, everyone leaned forward to listen to her story. Nobody knew what she was going to say. But Robin walked the jury through the early morning hours of September 30th, giving a graphic depiction of what she remembered. D.A. Switzer asked Robin if she missed her mother. And she responded that she wished her mother had been around for important milestones, such as her eighth grade dance, or her first year of high school. Robin then looked over at Levi,

Starting point is 01:02:05 and she said that her mother's screams would haunt her for the rest of her life. She also said that sometimes it was scary for her to fall asleep. Now at this point in her testimony, Robin started to cry. And D.A. Switzer immediately rushed her off into a private room. She would later say that this was the first time Robin had let out her grief after years of trying to remain strong. No one in the courtroom thought that Robin would come back, but to their surprise, she did. She told D.A. Switzer that she had one last thing to say. When Robin sat down, she looked directly at Levi King, and she told him that she had she said. She said, she said, she said, she said, she, forgave him for his actions. She also said that she hoped when it was time to face God,

Starting point is 01:02:56 he would ask for forgiveness too. Levi kept his head down and didn't make eye contact. In an interview with the Texas Monthly, Robin said, quote, I don't know why I said what I said. Maybe I just wanted him to know that I wasn't going to let my life be ruined by him, that I wasn't going to let him take away the best of me. I wanted him to know that my life was still going to turn out good, no matter what awful things he had done to me and my family. End quote. After Robin's testimony, D.A. Switzer presented multiple crime scene photos and videos that were very hard to look at.

Starting point is 01:03:36 They were gruesome and really depicted the graphic nature of the killings. Many family members had to close their eyes, especially when close up pictures of the victims were shown. At the end of the presentation, D.A. Switzer had shown over 100 crime scene photos. And finally, after a week of testimony, the jury was released to decide the fate of Levi King. They deliberated for seven hours and returned with the verdict of life without parole. During the discussion, one member of the jury had voted for life without parole, and the remaining 11 voted for the death penalty. But without a unanimous vote, Levi King was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences

Starting point is 01:04:11 without the possibility of parole for the murders of Brian, Michelle, and Zach. Many people were hoping for the death penalty, including DA Lynn Switzer, Robin would later say of the verdict. The look on Lynn's face that almost looked like that she had failed us. But she really didn't. Lynn Switzer fought for my family. And that's something that I will never be able to thank her enough.

Starting point is 01:04:32 And all the law enforcement that was involved and sat on the stand, either way, ultimately I had still won and my family had still one. And Levi King would soon be extradited back to Missouri to serve that sentence. So I was fine with him being in Missouri because Texas is my state. I don't want you back in my state. You've already done your damage. here. Following this, Levi King was extradited back to Missouri, where he's currently serving his

Starting point is 01:04:55 sentence at Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center. And another horrific part of the story is that still, to this day, Levi King feels no remorse for his actions. He would later say in an interview with A&E, I can honestly say that even during the trial, I really didn't care about anyone else that I hurt, or of course before the trial, and I still don't. Levi King is truly one of the scariest types of people in our society, the type of person that can so easily take the lives of others and feel no remorse for his actions. People with these sociopathic tendencies are rare to come across, but there are many others like him out in the world, and all we can do is hope that they never cross our paths, or drive by our homes in the middle of the night. But if there is any hope

Starting point is 01:05:58 from this story, it's through the life of Robin Dome. Although she still suffers from nightmares and is still afraid of the dark, she refuses to let this tragedy define her. She said that now she relies on the help of her family and she believes that her mother, stepfather, and brother would want her to be happy and move on with life. After the trial, she tried to live out a normal teenage life. She became a cheerleader at Pampa High School and briefly played basketball. Her summer job was working at the local water park, where she once had to save a little boy from drowning. After high school graduation in 2013, a group of police officers who had worked on the case raised $10,000 for her to attend a junior college. And she hopes that one day she will study nursing and help her to study nursing and

Starting point is 01:06:57 help those in need. Today, she still can't understand why Levi King decided to pick her family out of everyone else. She also doesn't know why she was spared, saying, quote, I could honestly not tell you why I was left, why I was the only one that survived. I couldn't tell you, whether it be I'm able to tell people that there's nothing you can't get through. Maybe if I get married, one day and have kids, if it's to help my kids get through life or to help other people in the world. I don't know what my purpose is, but it's going to be great when it comes. End quote. Good hair days do more than we give them credit for.

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Starting point is 01:12:05 Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you again for joining us for this week's episode of Murder in America. We are both so sorry. Stuff has been so hectic lately. If you didn't know, we just moved all the way from Philadelphia to Houston, Texas. So this last couple of weeks has been absolutely crazy for us. But thank you all for sticking right by our signs. And we have some of the best episodes in the history of our show.

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Murder In America - EP. 114 Completely RANDOM: Spree Killer LEVI KING

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