On March 18, 1981, a man walked into Lauterbach Cottage Hardware Store on the corner of South Grand Avenue and Fifteenth Street in Springfield, grabbed an ax from the back, and swung at three people.
One customer died immediately.
The attacker, who was described as a “light-skinned black man with afro-style hair,” was never caught. The store never reopened.
The site that has sent chills throughout Springfield for 37 years will be no more within the next week.
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Between 9 and 9:30 a.m., the man had walked into the store, which shared space with a sewing machine repair shop owned by Floyd Giddings, 37.
Once he grabbed an ax, he forced Yvonne Lauterbach, 48, to the front of her store.
Around the same time, John Ewing, 64, entered the store to buy contact paper.
Walking over from his work space, Giddings came over to investigate.
The man forced all three to their knees and then swung at their heads.
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