On August 24, 1994, Richard Drummond, a 47-year-old technical support supervisor for AT&T, was traveling near Kingdom City in Callaway County, Missouri, when he encountered a stranded vehicle on Interstate 70. Drummond, who was driving a company-issued 1994 Dodge Intrepid, observed a group of three males whose Chevrolet Caprice had broken down on the side of the highway.
Acting as a Good Samaritan, Drummond pulled over to offer assistance to the stranded motorists, unaware that the group had just burglarized a nearby home and were looking to escape the area.
The three individuals—Dennis Skillicorn, Allen Nicklasson, and seventeen-year-old Tim DeGraffenreid—accepted Drummond’s offer for a ride to a payphone. However, shortly after they entered his vehicle, the situation turned violent. Nicklasson produced a. 22-caliber semi-automatic pistol, held it to the back of Drummond’s head, and ordered him to continue driving. The group forced Drummond to drive west on I-70 for approximately an hour until they reached a secluded area in Lafayette County, near Higginsville, Missouri.
Upon reaching a remote location off the interstate, the kidnappers ordered Drummond to stop the car. Nicklasson then directed Drummond to walk away from the vehicle and into a wooded area. Despite Drummond’s compliance with their demands, Nicklasson shot him twice in the head, killing him execution-style. The three men then abandoned Drummond’s body in the woods and stole his vehicle to continue their crime spree, which eventually led them across the country to Arizona. There, the group’s vehicle troubles continued, leading to the murder of a second victims, Joseph and Charlene Babcock, after the stolen Dodge Intrepid became stuck in the sand.
Drummond’s body remained undiscovered for eight days until authorities located his remains on September 1, 1994. The break in the case came when the suspects were apprehended in San Diego, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, following a nationwide manhunt. During interrogation, the details of Drummond’s abduction and murder were revealed. Tim DeGraffenreid cooperated with investigators, providing key testimony against his older accomplices.
All three suspects faced legal consequences for their roles in the murder. Tim DeGraffenreid pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a prison sentence. The two older men, Dennis Skillicorn and Allen Nicklasson, were both convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Dennis Skillicorn was executed by lethal injection on May 20, 2009, at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri. Allen Nicklasson was executed by lethal injection at the same facility on December 11, 2013, nearly two decades after the crime occurred.
