True Missouri tells 11 stories of deadly doings in the "Show-Me" state. Author David J. Krajicek also considers whether there is something in the state's bloodlines that makes Missourians a particularly foul breed. One new resident of the state said a neighbor suggested that Missourians like to handle conflicts themselves. His "You shoot, you shovel, and you shut up." Among the featured crimes in the Lee Shelton's barroom murder of Billy Lyons in St. Louis, which inspired the popular song "Stagger Lee." The vigilante killing of the "town bully" of Skidmore, Ken McElroy. Did the tiny town, which has shriveled to nearly ghost-town status, curse itself by keeping a secret about the slaying? The heartless kidnapping and murder of millionaire Robert Greenlease's son in Kansas City by a couple of St. Joseph barflies. The Kirkwood City Council massacre. The "throwaway" serial killings of perhaps two dozen yo
