James Schnick

Case record: James Schnick

Background

James Schnick was a rural dairy farmer in Elkland, Missouri. He was described as financially strained. He was also described as a volunteer firefighter.

Schnick’s wife was Julie Schnick, and they lived on a dairy farm in southwestern Missouri near Elkland. Their property was located about 11 miles from the Buckner place in rural Elkland.

Kirk Buckner was the 14-year-old nephew whose death occurred in the rampage. Kirk Buckner was described as a well-mannered youth who rose every day before sunrise to do his chores. Friends described him as thin and wiry from farm work and said he sometimes became sad or depressed but not in a serious way.

Schnick was initially blamed for the violence in the community narrative after a gun was found in Kirk Buckner’s hand.

The offence

On Sept. 25, 1987, relatives were killed in killings involving two dairy farms near Elkland.

The dead included:

• Schnick’s wife, Julie (36), who was found shot twice in the head.
• Kirk Buckner (14).
• Kirk Buckner’s brothers: Dennis (8), Timothy (7), and Michael (2).
• Kirk Buckner’s aunt: Julie Schnick (30 is also stated in the funeral description as a sister name connected to the Buckner family).
• Schnick’s brother-in-law: Steve Buckner.
• Steve Buckner’s wife: Jeannette.

Schnick was accused but not tried in the deaths of Steve Buckner, Jeannette, and the Buckners’ other sons, Dennis (8) and Timmy (6). He was convicted in three deaths: Julie and two nephews, Kirk Buckner and Michael Buckner (2).

A .22-cal. pistol was described as being clutched in Kirk Buckner’s hand at the time deputies found his body at the Buckner dairy farm. Schnick was described as having spotted an unknown intruder and having fatally stabbed the intruder after a ferocious struggle. The intruder turned out to be Kirk Buckner, Schnick’s 14-year-old nephew.

Schnick contended that he had to kill the boy to stop the rampage.

Investigation

Authorities initially blamed the killings on Kirk Buckner. Later investigation shifted suspicion from Kirk Buckner to Schnick.

Police learned that Kirk Buckner was left-handed and that the murder weapon, a gun, was found in Kirk Buckner’s right hand. Discrepancies were also identified in the ability to move bodies: the question was raised how Kirk Buckner, who weighed only 130 lbs., could have moved his 250-lb. father so far from their farmhouse.

Schnick’s injuries were described as being superficial, and the account of how Kirk Buckner’s death occurred conflicted with evidence. Schnick claimed he had attacked the boy only with a steak knife, but an autopsy revealed that Kirk may have died from a gunshot.

Additional information was described as emerging around the time Schnick was about to undergo a lie-detector test. Around town, there was talk that the boy could not have committed the killings.

A prosecutor and sheriff were quoted regarding calls, preliminary findings, and the likelihood of early conclusions:

• George Chapman said: “He’s a good boy. Everybody knows that.”
• Don Cheever, the Webster County prosecutor, said: “Oh, did we get calls,” and “A lot of it didn’t check out. But some of it was legitimate.”
• Sheriff Eugene Fraker said: “Pressure by the news media” may have forced the department to issue findings prematurely.
• Sheriff Eugene Fraker said: “You had to give them something,” and “And this was what seemed obvious. It happens a lot this way.”
• Sheriff Eugene Fraker also said: “He was overacting,” and “And then he didn't want to be released from the hospital.”
• The sheriff also said: “I don't know what was in the man's mind,” and “There's always a possibility we'll never know.”

Sheriff Fraker began to probe further and called in Sergeant Tom Martin, a friend with the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Arrest

Schnick was charged with murder after police turned their suspicion from Kirk Buckner to Schnick. A Missouri Highway Patrol investigator said Schnick admitted during a two-hour interrogation Monday that he was responsible for the shootings on the morning of Sept. 25.

Schnick was held without bond at the Webster County jail. At arraignment, he appeared in a white tee-shirt and blue jeans, unshaven, with his hair matted.

Trial

Schnick was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder and was convicted of three counts.

A jury deliberated about two hours after hearing two and a half days of testimony.

The jury convicted Schnick of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of:

• Julie.
• Kirk Buckner, who Schnick originally said committed the murders.
• Michael Buckner (2 years old).

Schnick’s lawyer contended that Schnick’s confession was not freely given.

Sentencing

On April 16, 1988, a jury recommended that Schnick be put to death.

The jury deliberated about two hours after hearing two and a half days of testimony. The jury could have recommended life in prison, but instead recommended death. If a judge accepted the jury’s recommendation, Schnick would have become the 57th person on death row at the Missouri State Penitentiary, where there had not been an execution since 1965.

Schnick was sentenced to death in 1988.

Appeals

The Missouri Supreme Court overturned the convictions.

Outcome

After the convictions were overturned, Schnick pleaded guilty to three of the deaths.

On May 1, 1992, Schnick was sentenced to three life prison sentences without parole.

Aftermath

The family members were buried in a joint service a week before the later described funeral reference.

The flower-draped caskets at First Baptist Church held the bodies of:

• Steve Buckner (35 years old),
• Jan Buckner (36),
• Kirk Buckner,
• Dennis (8),
• Timothy (7),
• Michael (2),
• and Mr. Buckner’s sister, Julie Schnick (30).

Several community figures described local shock and the changing suspicion:

• Audie DeHarty, Kirk’s principal at Marshfield Junior High School, said: “This boy could look you in the eye and talk sense,” and added: “It makes me sick to think about it.”
• Frank Eugan, a cattle dealer, said: “I can't believe Schnick would do it.”
• Frank Eugan also said: “But you've got to look at the evidence.”
• Gordon T. Grant, assistant principal at Marshfield High School, said: “Kirk got the most unbelievable raw deal - to be killed and accused of killing,” and “And this was a kid that never got himself into trouble.”
• Rev. Wilburn Steward said: “In mankind, there's a breaking point. Something in Kirk had reached that point, and he just snapped.”
• Mary Shoemaker said: “I never thought Kirk did it,” and described her view as based on having seen Kirk with his brothers.
• Wilburn Steward’s funeral remark was attributed in the account of the slain family funeral attended by more than 500.
• After the guilty party changed, DeHarty said: “We've still got seven people lying at the Timber Ridge Baptist Cemetery.”
• DeHarty also said: “The guilty party seems to have changed, but the crimes haven't.”

The gate on James E. Schnick’s dairy farm was padlocked after the killings, and the killings were described as having happened at both James and Julie Schnick’s farm and at the Buckner place.