Business owner being served bankruptcy papers goes on shooting spree,kills 2,then shoots self in head,but survives,in IN
Joe1orbit
There is no doubt about the fact that the most famous double murderer of
yesterday afternoon was indeed our Capitol Building gunman, none other than
Russell Eugene Weston Jr., whose name will of course go down in the history
books. But guess what? At just about the SAME time that this Capitol shooting
rampage was occuring, there was another shooting rampage that resulted in
double murder, going on in Indiana! As you can imagine, this double murder got
totally buried and overshadowed by the events at the Capitol building in DC,
and so I feel it is my duty to give our neglected double murderer whatever tiny
bit of credit and exposure I can, via an ATC post.
Over in Indiana, a fellow named Bill Drury, who owned a vending
supply/machine business that had failed and was being served with bankruptcy
papers and ordered to turn over the keys to his store and leave the premises,
opened fire on the bank financial officer who was serving him with the papers,
along with one of his own employees, who had TOLD the bankruptcy court that in
her opinion, her boss, Bill, "should not be allowed to run the business
anymore." BAD move, Denise! You should NEVER challenge your boss in this type
of fashion, and Denise paid the price. Bill did indeed successfully kill both
her, and the executive officer who had been appointed by the bankrupcy court to
take over his business.
After the double murder, Bill fled the scene in his car, but was stopped by
police about 25 minutes later, who shot out a tire on Bill's car, to force him
to stop. Bill then pointed the gun at his own head, and after a brief standoff,
he shot himself in the noggin! But the wound was NOT fatal, and our new double
murderer was rushed to a local hospital. He is in critical condition, suffering
from a bullet wound to his head.
It seems very clear that Bill was ENRAGED over losing his business and being
forced to hand over the keys to all of his business property, as a result of
this bankruptcy. That is what prompted him to decide to engage in this shooting
spree, and it would appear that he did a very good job of claiming vengeance
against the 2 people that he harbored the most rage towards, with regard to
losing his business. There are apparently were other employees inside of the
business, but Bill specifically targeted Denise, the employee who chose to
betray him and testify in court that she felt Bill DESERVED to lose his
business.
Bill used a 9MM semi-automatic handgun to commit this double murderand his
aim was clearly on target, as he killed his two targets. I wouls assume that he
used the SAME gun to shoot himself in the head at point blank range about 30
minutes later, and yet that wound was NOT fatal. Even with a 9MM, there is no
guarantee of achieving death, even with a head shot. The same is true for a .45
caliber, even though some people swear that the .45 caliber is a LOT more
potent and deadly than the 9MM. It's a LITTLE more potent, but a 9MM loaded
with jacketed hollowpoints is a fine gun to use when committing a massacre.
Just try to pump at least two or THREE bullets into each of your victims. And
when it comes to suicide, plenty of people do survive shooting themselves in
the head with a .45 caliber. Of course Bill still might die of his head wound,
he is in critical condition.
Anyway, this double murder occured at just about the same time as the Capitol
Building rampage, and so was naturally ignored completely by the media, even
though Bill's kill total was JUST as impressive as Russell Weston's was. I like
equality, and so here, in cyberspace, I can give Bill the credit and space and
attention that he deserves, by virtue of having committed a successful double
murder.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of yesterday's Associated Press news wire:
2 Die in Shooting at Indiana Co.
MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A business owner being served bankruptcy papers
Friday afternoon opened fire on a financial officer and an employee, killing
both of them, police said.
Bill Drury, owner of a vending supply company, then fled in his car. Police
stopped him about 25 minutes later and, after a brief standoff, Drury shot
himself in the head.
He was taken to a hospital; his condition wasn't immediately available.
``Evidently the owner got some bad news today from a federal bankruptcy court.
At that point he lost it,'' said Morgan County Sheriff Terry Weddle.
``The deputy shot the right front tire out and by that time the suspect had
already shot himself. The vehicle was still in gear,'' Weddle said.
Martinsville is about 30 miles south of Indianapolis.
AP-NY-07-24-98
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 7/25/98 online edition of The
Indianapolis Star-News newspaper:
2 slain in Martinsville bankruptcy altercation
Business owner who was ordered to leave vending company, opened fire, fled and
shot himself after chase, police say.
By Susan Schramm and John Masson
Indianapolis Star/News
MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (July 24, 1998) -- William Drury was ordered Friday
afternoon to hand over the keys and leave his Martinsville vending machine
business.
Instead, police said, he shot and killed an employee who had told bankruptcy
authorities that Drury should no longer run the business, and a Carmel
executive who had been appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to take it over.
Then Drury shot himself.
Dead in the melee at Crown Vending were Denise L. Arthur, 41, of Gosport, and
William R. Rice, 61, of Carmel. Drury, wounded in the head, was in critical
condition late Friday at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
Morgan County sheriff's deputies milled around the small business at 255 Robert
Curry Drive after the mid-afternoon shooting. As many as 10 employees were
taken to Morgan County Memorial Hospital, where they were to meet with a crisis
team.
Drury apparently "lost it," said Detective Rick J. Lang of the Indiana State
Police, when Rice and a sheriff's deputy confronted Drury with a bankruptcy
judge's order to leave the business.
Drury had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Jan. 30. Tuesday, he ignored Rice's
order to turn over the business, setting up Friday's confrontation.
"He just didn't give you the airs to do something like that," said Eva Fuson,
one of Arthur's aunts.
But Arthur was afraid of Drury. Arthur and Rice's statements to U.S. Bankruptcy
Court Judge Robert L. Bayt led him to declare that "it was not reasonable,
proper, nor in the best interest of this estate for Mr. Drury to continue to
participate in the (business)."
"She knew he was going to come looking for her," Fuson said.
Arthur was married, had two sons and some grandchildren, Fuson said. She had
worked at Crown Vending about six years and kept the business's financial
records.
Rice, also married and the father of two daughters and a son, was a media
broker and national broadcast management consultant. He was the former general
manager of WLS-FM in Chicago and had owned a radio station in Texas. He had
consulted with dozens of television and radio stations and appraised their
businesses. He also was a former Marine and a retired colonel in the U.S.
Marine Corps Reserve.
Although he had served as a bankruptcy trustee elsewhere, this was the first
time Rice was appointed as a trustee in the federal courts here, bankruptcy
court officials said Friday afternoon.
"This is unprecedented violence for a bankruptcy court in this district, and is
extremely rare in bankruptcies throughout the country," said Kevin Dempsey, an
assistant trustee for the Indianapolis office of the U.S. Justice Department.
John Newcomb, president of Wabash Valley Broadcasting, spoke to Rice last week.
Rice was brokering the purchase of a radio station property in Terre Haute for
Newcomb.
"He was a sweet and gentle soul," said Newcomb, who was stunned by the news of
Rice's killing.
Newcomb was surprised that Rice was in Martinsville with sheriff's deputies to
take physical control of a vending machine business.
"He typically didn't do that. When the court appointed him a trustee, he'd
operate the business for weeks or months. He'd ... build it up," said Newcomb,
who also is president of the Indiana Broadcasters Association. "This is a man
who was very professional."
The confrontation at the business began about 3:20 p.m., police said. Rice
arrived with a sheriff's deputy to seize the business and make sure that Drury
left, Morgan County Sheriff Terry Weddle said.
At first, Drury complied. The deputy left.
A few minutes later Drury returned with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol and shot
Rice in the office while Rice was on the phone, police said.
Drury then opened fire on Arthur, whom he saw as having betrayed him,
Martinsville Police Chief Frans Hollanders said.
Both Rice and Arthur were pronounced dead at the scene.
But Drury wasn't finished, Hollanders said. He also fired at least one shot at
a second employee, whom police haven't identified. The female employee hid
under a desk, Hollanders said, and the bullet ricocheted off the desktop and
into a computer printer. The woman was unharmed.
Then Drury fled in his white Cadillac, apparently across a field and through a
nearby industrial park.
As law enforcement was called to the scene, the deputy who had left before the
confrontation wheeled around to return to Crown Vending. A Martinsville police
officer spotted Drury as he left the industrial park.
A 20- to 25-minute chase then began, ending only when a Martinsville officer
crashed into Drury's car while trying to stop it near Cramertown Loop and
Leonard Road.
As officers closed in, Drury shot himself in the head, Hollanders said.
He was taken to the local hospital, then taken by helicopter to Methodist
Hospital in Indianapolis.
Drury also had filed personal bankruptcy, according to court documents.
Staff writers Tim Evans, Bruce Smith, Kim Hooper and Kyle Niederpruem
contributed to this story.
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> After two innocent people had their lives ripped away from them like this.
