In the quiet of a late September day in 2005, the lives of a Missouri family were irrevocably shattered. Orlie Wade McCool, a 70-year-old man, was found murdered in his Anderson home alongside his 47-year-old daughter-in-law, Laura Dawn McCool. The grim discovery was made on September 29, 2005, setting off an investigation that would uncover a spree of violence spanning two states.
The man responsible for this senseless act was Levi King.
Reports indicate that King, who was staying at his father's residence just a few miles from the McCools, had stolen his father's guns. He then forced his way into the McCool home, where he shot Orlie once and Dawn multiple times, ending their lives for no apparent reason. This act of brutality was not an isolated incident, but rather the beginning of a deadly rampage.
After murdering the McCools, King fled in Orlie's truck, heading south. His journey of violence culminated in Pampa, Texas, the very next day. There, he broke into a farmhouse and murdered Brian Conrad, his wife Michell, and her son, Zach Doan. A young girl in the home was also shot but miraculously survived by pretending to be dead. She was later able to summon help.
King's escape was short-lived. He was apprehended by border patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, while still in possession of Orlie McCool's truck. Faced with the evidence against him, Levi King pleaded guilty to the murders of Orlie and Dawn McCool. For these crimes, he received two sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also faced capital murder charges in Texas for the deaths of the Conrad-Doan family, for which the state sought the death penalty.
