1968 — Feb 16, Arson Fire, Randolph Tavern, 107 W. Reed St., Moberly, MO             —     12 

— 13  National Fire Sprinkler Association.  F.Y.I.  1999, 6.^[1]

— 12  AP. “12 die in Moberly fire.” Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO, 2-17-1968, p. 1.

— 12  Leagle.com. “State v. William Coleman…Supreme Court of Missouri…Dec 14, 1970.

— 12  NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1968.” Fire Journal, Vol. 63, No. 3, May 1969, p. 13.

Narrative Information

Leagle.com: “HOLMAN, Judge. The information in this case charged defendant with felony-murder (first degree) in the commission of arson as a result of which Geraldine Settle was burned to death. See § 559.010. A trial resulted in a verdict of guilty and the death penalty was assessed. See § 559.030. Defendant has appealed.

“On this appeal there is no contention that the evidence was insufficient to support the submission of the offense charged and hence it is not necessary for us to set out all of the sordid details of the tragic occurrence hereinafter described.

 

“The event in question occurred in the Randolph Tavern located at 107 West Reed Street in Moberly, Missouri. There was substantial evidence from which the jury could reasonably have found that on February 16, 1968, shortly before four o’clock in the afternoon, defendant went to a filling station located a little more than a block from the tavern and borrowed a 5-gallon open bucket. He then purchased four gallons of gasoline which were pumped into the bucket and carried the bucket of gasoline to the tavern. It was a fairly warm day and the door of the tavern was open. He stepped inside and took two or three “slings” of the bucket in a manner which threw the gasoline onto the east wall, a bowling machine in that area, and onto the floor of the tavern. He then stepped back, lit a match, and threw the match into the gasoline on the floor, and left the tavern.

 

“There were sixteen people in the tavern at that time. Almost immediately there was a slight explosion which blew the door shut and created a pressure inside the tavern which made it difficult to open the door. The four people closest to the door, however, were able to escape without serious injury, although two of them were substantially burned. They were Vivian McSparren and a baby she was holding, Virgil Hill, and Charles Buckler. The other twelve people in the tavern, including the bar tender, Geraldine Settle, were killed, the coroner testifying that their deaths resulted from suffocation from smoke inhalation and from burning. The bodies of eight of those twelve persons were found piled in front of a back door. Shortly after the four survivors escaped from the tavern there was a terrific explosion which blew out the front windows. After the fire was started, defendant went to the Pastime Tavern located across the street and asked the owner to take him to the police station.

 

“The owner, Edward Kempker, asked his wife to “drop him off at the station as she was about to start on an errand at that time.” As defendant left to get in the car he said something to Mr. Kempker to the effect that “I did that,” referring to the fire across the street. Defendant was taken to the police station a short distance away and surrendered to the chief of police.

 

“The motive of the defendant was not entirely clear from the evidence. There were, however, several items of evidence that might indicate his motive. Defendant had been rather active on the day in question in looking for his wife from whom he was separated. A few hours before the fire defendant went to see Victor Rigler and made an agreement to buy a car from him which he would return for in a few days, saying that he wanted the car to leave town. In the discussion with Rigler he said, “When I leave this town they are going to remember me. I am going to make history.” A short time later defendant asked Ordell Rodney to take him to Huntsville because he had been told his wife was there at Freeman’s Bar. Defendant was unable to find his wife in Huntsville and after returning to Moberly, as he was leaving the car, he said to Mr. Rodney that maybe this would be the last time he would see him because the “bastards were hiding his wife and that they would be sorry about it,” or words to that effect. Mrs. Kempker testified that as she was taking defendant to the police station he started to cry and said, “I loved my wife, I loved my wife, I loved my wife”; that “those crazy s.o.b.’s were hiding her, I always thought so, but I didn’t know it until today.” There was also evidence that as a condition for obtaining a license to operate the Randolph Tavern the owner had been required by the District Liquor Inspector to refuse service to defendant, as well as certain other ex-convicts, and that defendant knew of that fact. The foregoing evidence would appear to warrant a reasonable conclusion that defendant may have started the fire either because he had been barred from service at the tavern or because he thought that the operators of the tavern were hiding his wife. It should be stated at this point, however, that the evidence indicated that the owner of the tavern, and many of the persons who were killed in the fire, seemed to have been friends of the defendant….”  (Leagle.com. “State v. Coleman, 460 S.W.2d 719 (1970), State of Missouri, Respondent, v. William Coleman, Appellant. No. 55226. Supreme Court of Missouri, En Banc. December 14, 1970.)

 

NFPA: “In Moberly, Missouri, 12 people perished on February 16 in the first-story tavern of a three-story brick, wood-frame hotel building. The fire was started when an arsonist ex-convict entered the building with a five-gallon container of flammable liquid, which he proceeded to empty around the room and ignite. Eight of the victims were found at a rear door that opened inward.  Although the fire spread to the upper stories of the building, the fatalities were all in the first story.  The fire…was quickly knocked down by the local fire department, but the people had already died of suffocation.”  (NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1968.” Fire Journal, V63, N3, May 1969, p. 13.)

 

Newspaper

 

AP, Feb 17: “Moberly, Mo. (AP) – A man flung a bucket of gasoline into a crowded tavern, touching off a holocaust that killed 12 persons Friday afternoon in downtown Moberly. The bodies were stacked like cordwood at the rear door through which the eight men and four women tried frantically to escape. Two men, a woman and a child got out through the front door.

 

“Police arrested Bill Coleman, 37, of Moberly, an ex-convict who has been in trouble with the law since his teen-age years. Prosecutor Clifford Falzone said he will file a charge of first degree murder against Coleman by noon today.

 

“The Randolph tavern, adjacent to the three-story, 30-room Randolph Hotel, was burned out and six rooms on the second and third floors, of the hotel were damaged extensively. Firemen put out the blaze in about 45 minutes.

 

“A police spokesman said the victims apparently piled up against the rear door, which opened inward, and were unable to get out.

 

“Virgil Hill, 46, one of those who escaped, said he had just walked into the bar with a friend, Charles Buckler, in his 70s. “A guy walked in,” Hill said, ”stood just inside the front door and threw a bucket of stuff and took off. There was a big blast with power behind it, a big blaze and a lot of smoke going toward the back.” “I was knocked off my stool. I was on the second stool, next to a woman with a young child. I pushed them and my friend, Buckler, out the front door. Then the whole front of the place blew out.” “I went into a nearby tavern,” Hill said, “and told ’em to ring the fire department because there’s hell down there.” Hill, who lives in the hotel, is a factory employee, former cowboy and ranch hand, and World War II veteran. “I’ve seen hell, but nothing like this,” he said.

 

“Hill said the large bucket hit a music machine and the blast of fire followed. He expressed belief that a spark ignited the fuel. He said the man who threw the bucket didn’t stop to light the fire.

 

“Police records show that Coleman had escaped eight times from the Randolph County jail in Huntsville, the first time in 1948. He has been an inmate of the State Training School for Boys at Boonville, the reformatory at Algoa, and the penitentiary. His record includes charges of delinquency, car theft, felonious assault, burglary and forgery.

 

“A dark-haired, slender man, he is heavily tattooed.

 

“Police Chief Wesley Slavens said Coleman surrendered voluntarily immediately after the fire, but refused to disclose anything Coleman might have said. Nothing was disclosed about a motive. ‘All I’m going to say is that he came in and gave himself up,’ the chief said. In the chief’s office was a fire-blackened, five-gallon grease bucket which was described as the container hurled into the tavern.

 

“Prosecutor Falzone gave this rundown on the record of William Edward Coleman:

 

“November 1946, broke into a drug store and was sent to the state training school, paroled the next year.

 

“March 4, 1948, enlisted in the army.

“November, 1948, convicted of burglary and larceny, sent to the training school on indeterminate sentence.

 

“April 1949, escaped, was caught and returned.

 

“1950, transferred to the state prison because of delinquency.

 

“1951, convicted of car theft, felonious assault and escape; sentenced to two years for the car theft, five years for the assault, and the escape charge was dismissed.

 

“1954, took part in a riot at the state prison.

 

“1956, sentence extended because of the riot.

 

“Sept. 8, 1958, arrested in St. Louis on suspicion of stealing, but released.

 

“A week later he was arrested in Moberly, convicted of breaking and entering, and was sentenced to five years.

 

“Nov 11, 1961, discharged from prison.

 

“July 2, 1963, escaped jail after arrest on grand larceny charge, caught two days later.

 

“Chief Slavens said Coleman had been working as a construction laborer the last two years and apparently was trying to stay out of trouble. The man is married, but has no children.

 

“It was learned that the tavern operator, Ray Curtis, who took over the place recently, had left the bar in mid-afternoon. The bartender, Mrs. Geraldine Settles, 53, was left in charge. She was one of those killed.

 

“It was the second major fire of the day in Moberly, a central Missouri city of about 13,000. The Ramada Inn, under construction, was extensively damaged in a morning fire of unknown origin.

 

“The list of dead is:

 

1. Ella Derboven, 57, Moberly.
2. Ruby Derboven, 33, Rte. 2, Huntsville, Mo.
3. George Dougherty, 55, Renick, Mo.
4. Jerry Ronimous, 55, Joberly.
5. James F. Lowry, 42, Moberly.
6. James Lockwood, 46, Moberly.
7. Clell Frederick, 50, Moberly.
8. Elbert C. Smith, 45, Clarence, Mo.
9. Barbara Kribbs, 31, Moberly.
10. Geraldine Settles, 53, Huntsville.
11. Silas Crutchfield, 40, Moberly.
12. Robert Will Shull, no age or address immediately available.”

 

(Associated Press. “12 die in Moberly fire.” Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO, 2-17-1968, pp. 1, 6.)

 

Sources:

 

Associated Press. “12 die in Moberly fire.” Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO, 2-17-1968, p. 1. Accessed 5-19-2015 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/us/missouri/jefferson-city/daily-capital-news/1968/02-17?tag=moberly+fire&rtserp=tags/moberly-fire?psi=58&pci=7&ndt=ex&pd=17&pm=2&py=1968/

 

Leagle.com. “State v. Coleman, 460 S.W.2d 719 (1970), State of Missouri, Respondent, v. William Coleman, Appellant. No. 55226. Supreme Court of Missouri, En Banc.” 12-14-1970. Accessed 3-5-2013 at: http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=19701179460SW2d719_11135.xml&docbase=CSLWAR1-1950-1985

 

National Fire Protection Association. “The Major Fires of 1968.” Fire Journal, Vol. 63, No. 3, May 1969, pp. 12-14.

 

National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc. F.Y.I. – Fire Sprinkler Facts. Patterson, NY: NFSA, November 1999, 8 pages. Accessed at: http://www.firemarshals.org/data/File/docs/College%20Dorm/Administrators/F1%20-%20FIRE%20SPRINKLER%20FACTS.pdf

 

 

 

 

[1] Incorrect as to the number of deaths, which was twelve.