A child abductor who killed himself was apparently quite the one man crime wave:
Jeffrey “Smitty” Smith, 49, of Hawk Point, died of a single gunshot wound to the head. He was found outside his shop on July 3.
Residents of Hawk Point, in Lincoln County, had speculated for days about a link between the homicide and Paul Smith, who abducted 4-year-old Alisa Maier from her Louisiana, Mo., home earlier in the week. Paul Smith, who is not related to Jeffery, lived in a cabin in Hawk Point.
The Major Case Squad ended the speculation at a late afternoon press conference Friday, saying a search of Paul Smith’s home had uncovered a pistol and ammunition hidden in a black vinyl case under the porch. Ballistics tests showed the weapon was used to kill Jeffrey Smith, said Deputy Cmdr. Mark Schimweg of the Major Case Squad.
Detectives said the pistol used in the homicide was not the same one Paul Smith used to kill himself on Wednesday, after police confronted him about Alisa’s abduction. The caliber of the murder weapon was not released.
Lincoln County Prosecutor John Richards said the gun was stolen in a burglary in Pike County last month. He said his office has no information that would lead to charges against anyone else for the murder or the burglary.
Police believe Paul Smith, 38, may also have been responsible for dozens of burglaries in the Hawk Point and Bowling Green areas in recent weeks.
Maybe I read too many detective books, but I hope the cops have something more to go on than a gun found outside the man’s residence after he was already dead of a gunshot wound.
You know, I ought to get back to thinking I am going to write detective books. Because that would be a good way to dispose of a gun.
Have you written any fiction?
Yes. You know any hungry agents?
For samples, see Shepherd: At College, The Brooch, and To A Good Home.
Taken together, there is a common moral: ignore women, get a dog instead.
I especially like how the narrator of “To a Good Home” breaks the fourth wall.
“Named after a gun? She is a hunting dog,” I said.
More understanding than my wife, who totally objected to naming our daughter after my rifle.
Well, the girls all said I was a misogynist in school. Of course, in a college English course, you’re one of them or you’re agyn them.