James Klug was a 67-year-old male resident of Arnold, Missouri, who worked as an attendant at a local gas station. On June 19, 1995, he became a victim of a violent rampage that spanned three states. Klug was on duty at the service station when a vehicle coasted into the lot, reportedly out of fuel. The driver was Ernest Jamison, a 34-year-old former Bible college student who was in the midst of a crime spree that had begun earlier that day in Tennessee.
After Klug assisted the motorist
by filling the vehicle's tank, he approached the driver’s side window to collect payment. Instead of paying, Jamison produced a 9mm handgun and fired three shots directly into Klug’s chest. The shooting occurred in front of witnesses, and Jamison immediately fled the scene in the maroon Oldsmobile Delta 88 he was driving. Klug sustained fatal injuries from the unprovoked attack.
Authorities launched a manhunt for the suspect, who continued his flight into Illinois. Later that same day, Jamison murdered a third victim, a woman named Sue Gilmore, at a gas station in McLean County, Illinois. The spree concluded when Jamison attempted to take his own life by shooting himself in the head. He survived the self-inflicted gunshot wound but was left permanently blind. Law enforcement officers arrested him at the scene, bringing the violent chain of events to a halt.
Following his arrest and recovery, Jamison faced legal proceedings in Tennessee, Missouri, and Illinois. It was revealed that prior to arriving in Arnold, he had murdered his friend in Memphis and stolen the car used in the crimes. Jamison was convicted of second-degree murder in Tennessee. In Illinois, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and armed robbery, initially receiving a death sentence that was later commuted to life without parole. For the murder of James Klug in Missouri, prosecutors ultimately secured a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, ensuring Jamison would remain incarcerated for the rest of his natural life.
