BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
•
•
•
•
BORN IN TECUMSEH, MICHIGAN ON FEBRUARY 1ST, 1872.
•
HE STUDIED ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AT MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE IN EAST LANSING. AFTER
THAT, HE MOVED TO ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, WHERE HE WORKED AS AN ELECTRICIAN.
•
•
AFTER SEVERAL YEARS IN MISSOURI, KEHOE RETURNED TO MICHIGAN.
YOUNGER OF 13 CHILDREN IN HIS FAMILY
MOM DIED WHEN HE WAS YOUNG AND HIS FATHER REMARRIED
STEPMOTHER CAUGHT ON FIRE AFTER AN OIL STOVE EXPLODED AND ANDREW THREW WATER
ON HER WHICH ONLY MADE IT WORSE AND SHE DIED
AT THE AGE OF 40, HE MARRIED ELLEN "NELLIE" PRICE IN 1912. SEVEN YEARS LATER THEY
MOVED TO A FARM THEY BOUGHT OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE OF BATH.
KEHOE’S MASS MURDER BEGINNING
•
IN 1926 HIS FORTUNES SEEMED TO BE IN DECLINE. HE LOST THE NOMINATION FOR THE CLERKSHIP AND
WAS HAVING TROUBLE WITH SCHOOL BOARD. HIS WIFE WAS ALSO ILL. AND, TO TOP IT ALL OFF, KEHOE
WAS GRAPPLING WITH FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. THESE WERE CAUSED IN PART BY A SPECIAL TAX TO BUILD
A NEW SCHOOL; A TAX HE HAD FOUGHT AGAINST. KEHOE WAS FACING THE POSSIBILITY OF LOSING HIS
80-ACRE FARM.
THE BOMBING:
*mass murder: is the act of murdering a number of people, typically
simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time.[1] The FBI
defines mass murder as murdering four or more persons during an
event with no "cooling-off period" between the murders
•
BETWEEN MAY 16, WHEN HIS WIFE RETURNED HOME FROM A HOSPITAL STAY, AND THE MORNING OF
MAY 18, KEHOE KILLED HIS WIFE.
•
HE MOVED HER BODY TO A FARM BUILDING BEFORE SETTING OFF INCENDIARY EXPLOSIONS IN THEIR
HOUSE AND FARM BUILDINGS. ABOUT THE SAME TIME, HE HAD ARRANGED TIMED EXPLOSIONS IN THE
NEW SCHOOL BUILDING.
•
THE MATERIALS IN THE NORTH WING EXPLODED AS PLANNED, KILLING MANY STUDENTS AND SOME
ADULTS INSIDE. HAD SET A TIMED DETONATOR TO IGNITE DYNAMITE AND HUNDREDS OF POUNDS OF
PYROTOL AT THE SCHOOL, WHICH HE HAD SECRETLY BOUGHT AND PLANTED IN THE BASEMENT OF
BOTH WINGS OVER THE COURSE OF MANY MONTHS.
•
THE SECOND 500 POUNDS OF EXPLOSIVES IN THE SOUTH WING, DID NOT DETONATE, SO THAT PART OF
THE SCHOOL WAS NOT DESTROYED
CRIMES ACCUSED OF:
Crime
Date
Victims
Punishmnent
Murder
May 18th, 1927
Wife, 38 children, 5
adults, and injured 58
people
He commited suicide
SENTENCE:
•
ANDREW KEHOE HAD NOT HAD ANY SENTENCE DUE TO
KILLING HIMSELF RIGHT AFTER HE COMMITTED THE MASS
MURDER.
•
AS RESCUERS STARTED GATHERING AT THE SCHOOL, KEHOE
DROVE UP, STOPPED, AND IN A STRUGGLE WITH THE SCHOOL
SUPERINTENDENT, DETONATED DYNAMITE INSIDE HIS TRUCK,
KILLING HIMSELF AND SUPERINTENDENT HUYCK
•
DURING THE RESCUE EFFORTS, SEARCHERS DISCOVERED THE
ADDITIONAL 500 POUNDS OF UNEXPLODED DYNAMITE AND
PYROTOL PLANTED THROUGHOUT THE BASEMENT OF THE
SCHOOL'S SOUTH WING. THESE EXPLOSIVES, CONNECTED TO
AN ALARM CLOCK THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO ACT AS THE
DETONATOR, HAD BEEN SET FOR THE SAME TIME AS THE
OTHER EXPLOSION
Pyrotol: was an explosive available for a time after World War
EVIDENCE:
• HIS NEIGHBOR ELLSWORTH THOUGHT KEHOE STARTED PLANNING HIS "MURDEROUS REVENGE" AGAINST
THE COMMUNITY AT THAT TIME. HIS NEIGHBOR, A. MCMULLEN, NOTICED THAT KEHOE STOPPED WORKING
ALTOGETHER ON HIS FARM IN HIS LAST YEAR, AND THOUGHT HE MIGHT BE PLANNING SUICIDE.[
LABELING THEORY:
•
ANDREW KEHOE REPRESENTS THE LABELING THEORY BECAUSE HE HAS THE AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE THEIR STANDARDS ON SOCIETY.
HE WAS A SCHOOL TEACHER AND TOWNSHIP CLERK OF BATH MICHIGAN. HE REFUSED AND ARGUED THE TAX THAT WAS BEING
IMPLEMENTED TO BUILD A NEW SCHOOL. KEHOE’S PERSONALITY WAS DESCRIBED TO BE VERY PARTICULAR AND METICULOUS. HE
WAS AN INTELLIGENT MAN . AS BEING A TREASURER FOR THE SCHOOL BOARD HE ALWAYS SEEEMED TO BE VOTING AGAINST THEM
AND CALLING FOR ADJOURNMENT WHEN HE DIDN'T GET HIS WAY. HE REPEATEDLY ACCUSED SUPERINTENDENT EMORY HUYCK OF
FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT.