Kelvin Shelby Malone

Serial Killer

Kelvin Shelby Malone: A Deadly Interstate Crime Spree

Overview

Kelvin Shelby Malone was an American murderer whose violent crimes stretched across Missouri and California during a concentrated interstate crime spree in March 1981. Although he is sometimes described as a serial killer, his murders occurred within a period of only several days, making the term spree killer a more precise classification. Malone was convicted of murdering three people and was also accused or suspected of killing at least one additional victim whose body was never recovered. Malone committed many of his crimes with Michael Terry Crenshaw, an associate he met in Missouri before the two traveled west through a succession of robberies, kidnappings and killings. Their victims included a taxi driver, a stranded motorist, a service-station cashier and a Kansas City man whose automobile was stolen. Malone used two .25-caliber semiautomatic pistols during the crime spree, while a metal pipe was used in one particularly brutal murder.

Escape and the Beginning of the Crime Spree

Before the murders began, Malone escaped from custody in Monterey County, California. On March 10, 1981, he participated in the armed robbery of a service station in Arroyo Grande. An accomplice carried a shotgun while Malone disabled the station telephone and took the keys to a vehicle belonging to the attendant's fiancee. On March 11, Malone kidnapped Leroy Combs, whose surname has also appeared in some accounts as Cambs. Malone obtained a ride from Combs in the Santa Maria area and then produced a gun. He forced Combs to drive toward Los Angeles and eventually ordered him into the trunk of the automobile. Unlike Malone's later victims, Combs survived. Malone ultimately released him near Long Beach after holding him captive for several hours. Malone then traveled by bus to St. Louis, Missouri, where he joined Michael Crenshaw. The two men planned to finance their return to California through robberies and thefts. That plan quickly escalated into a series of kidnappings and murders. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

William Parr Age: (62), Date of Death: March 18, 1981

Survivors:

Leroy Cambs Age: (37), Date of Attack: 1981-03-10

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