An undeserved death Macon County sheriff gets break in murder o

GOLDSBERRY, Mo. -- Accounts from people who encountered Frank B. Shimek make you cringe. By their reckoning over years of sour encounters, he was the mean miser of Macon County.

A business owner banned him for bad behavior, including fighting with his ex-wife in the parking lot. He often raided penny trays, prompting store clerks to hide them.

He once squirted gobs of mustard on a cafe's wood-paneled wall, and laid his cane across aisles at auctions and grinned when someone tripped. He liked to refuse to move his car after buying gasoline to keep others from reaching the pump.

"He was just about the meanest, most unhappy man I ever met," said Ken Porter, who endured Shimek's caustic complaints about the 25-cent charge for a cup of coffee at Ken's Country Junction truck stop in New Cambria. "I hate saying that for fear his family will be hurt by it. But I had to ask him twice not to come back."

Yet law enforcement officials, Shimek's priest and even many of the Macon County residents who so disdained him agree: The man who cut such an unhappy figure in rural north-central Missouri didn't deserve to die like this.

During a late-January ice storm, Shimek, 75, was fatally shot and a large safe was taken from a padlocked room in the rural house where he lived alone. The structure was torched in a blaze so hot it blistered paint on Shimek's old cars parked across his property.

"I don't mean to paint him as a saint, far from it. That would not be truthful. But when I heard he had died, I asked that we remember him in our prayers," said the Rev. Phil Moriarty, Shimek's priest for a dozen years at St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Wien.

A major break in the case -- one that would result in murder and robbery charges against six defendants, stolen property charges against five more -- came late in March, when a tipster reported seeing Shimek's missing safe in an old chicken house.

The defendants outnumber Sheriff Bob Dawson's full-time staff. Most of those charged are in their late teens or early 20s.

"The county is shocked by this whole thing," Dawson said the other day with a shake of his head. "Shimek was disliked. But the law says even someone who's hated can't be murdered."

Wads of cash

Records show that Frank Benjamin Shimek was born in Wisconsin and served in the U.S. Army, fathered five sons and two daughters, owned a long-shuttered crossroads store at Goldsberry and was divorced by his late wife.

He walked with a limp, using a cane or crutch. Shimek's drivers license photo shows him glaring from behind heavy glasses. His hair was in a flattop. Folks said he wore the same clothes several days in a row.

Shimek's store sold odd gee-gaws such as painted cattle skulls. He also bought a few exotic animals such as llamas. He was a regular at flea markets and auctions, always paying cash.

Some got the idea he had money, though Shimek didn't live in luxury. Far from it, said acquaintances, noting his beat-up vehicles, grubby attire and humble-looking house.

"But you'd see him pull out a wad of cash that would choke a horse. That's how he paid me for my deliveries," said Bob Poor, who brought propane to Shimek's house.

Dawson said Shimek was believed to have kept "tens of thousands of dollars" around his place, which included a corner room with windows covered by heavy metal mesh and a padlock on the door.

That room held two safes, one of which was stolen. The other still sits on wheels in the charred debris, its door open.

"He came from a Depression generation that sometimes didn't trust banks," the sheriff said, "but who knows why he would keep large amounts of cash at home?"

'Sad and isolated'

A visitor accompanying the sheriff to Shimek's property noted a burned set of rosary beads atop the remaining safe, indicating a prized possession. Shimek was a regular at area Catholic churches, attendance that the Rev. Moriarty finally lands upon when asked to describe Shimek.

"He was a sad and isolated person, and when you are isolated, you can become vulnerable. Unfortunately, you won't find people who have a lot of good to say about Frank Shimek," the priest added. "But even a dog doesn't deserve such a cold-blooded killing."

Shimek's adult children came to Macon for his funeral.

One daughter, Catherine Loehr of Lafayette, La., at first declined to talk about her father when a reporter called. But she rang back a few hours later and left this message: "My father was not a bad man. He loved his children, and he loved his grandchildren even more. That's all I want to say."

Also attending Shimek's service were a handful of local Catholics, elderly regulars at all of the church's funerals, said Macon County Coroner Brian Hayes.

"He would go quietly to Mass and attend and then leave without talking much. He seemed to be a face in the crowd of the parish," said the Rev. Paul Hartley of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Macon.

Tip on the missing safe

Dawson said the fire at Shimek's house was reported early on Jan. 30 by a Missouri Department of Transportation worker clearing state Highway 149 after a winter storm. The flames were notable because a blanket of ice had otherwise knocked out lights in the surrounding countryside.

The sheriff summoned a major case squad, which scoured the crime scene but made no immediate arrests.

They concluded Shimek was slain on Jan. 29 or Jan. 30 by multiple assailants. Dawson is intentionally vague about the defendants' alleged roles, saying he hopes some of them will cooperate with the prosecution.

"The tip about that stolen safe was what broke it open," Dawson said.

The safe was found March 18, the same day officers began arrests and filing charges. Dawson said he believes Shimek was targeted because of his reputation for hoarding money.

Charged with first-degree murder, a crime punishable in Missouri by death or life in prison without chance of parole:

Gary Campbell, 20, of Macon, also charged with arson, robbery and a probation violation.

His brother, Kyle Anthony Campbell, 18, of Macon, also facing robbery and arson counts.

Jessica D. Groza, 20, of Macon, identified by Dawson as Gary Campbell's girlfriend. She is also charged with robbery and arson.

Nathan Edward Wolfe, 18, of Anabel, also charged with robbery.

Ryan Paul Graham, 18, of Macon, also facing a robbery charge.

Nicholas R. Kearns, 21, who has addresses in Macon and Raymore, additionally charged with arson and robbery.

A group preliminary hearing is set for May 14.

"We don't even believe they necessarily knew Shimek ... but we think they thought he had money," Dawson said. "It was just a sad ending for a sad man. But that doesn't mean we won't have justice. Even for Frank Shimek."