In the autumn of 1991, a tragic event unfolded in the town of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, forever altering the lives of several families. On November 9th, Thomas Earl Bannister, a 38-year-old man from Cahokia, Illinois, was visiting Harrodsburg. An employee of the Union Pacific Railroad in St. Louis, Missouri, Bannister found himself in the wrong place at the most unfortunate of times.
That evening, Bannister was in a car with three other individuals: 33-year-old Donna Daigneau, her
48-year-old father, Palmer Rousey of Danville, and 48-year-old Fred Alsman Jr. of Webster Groves, Missouri. As they drove to a restaurant, they were followed by Donna's estranged husband, 33-year-old Robert Daigneau. Consumed by jealousy and the belief that his wife was on a date, Robert Daigneau's actions escalated with deadly consequences.
The group noticed they were being followed and, in a moment of panic, drove to the location of the former police station, honking the horn for help that was no longer there. It was in this desperate moment that Robert Daigneau pulled his pickup truck alongside their vehicle. He exited his truck and fired six shots from a. 357 Magnum into the car. The barrage of bullets claimed the lives of Thomas Earl Bannister, Donna Daigneau, Palmer Rousey, and Fred Alsman Jr.
Following the shooting, Robert Daigneau fled the scene. His escape was short-lived, however. A police officer in the nearby town of Lancaster spotted Daigneau's truck and began to follow him. Before the officer could even get out of his cruiser, Robert Daigneau took his own life, shooting himself in the head as he sat in his truck. As the perpetrator died at the scene, no arrests were made in connection with the deaths of the four victims. The incident was ruled a murder-suicide, leaving a devastating wake of loss and sorrow for the families and communities touched by the violence of that night.
