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  • #1
David Lawrence Eyman was 15 at the time of his death.

Timeline:

August 13 - afternoon - David approaches a friend/neighbor on his bicycle acting strangely. Seeing that his friend paranoid, the friend asks David what is going on. David replies that he won't tell because he doesn't want anyone else to get in trouble. David rides away on his bike and yells a name the friend is unfamiliar with. The friend says, "I don't know who that is." David turns his bike around, comes back to the friend and says, "If anything happens to me, it was _____________."

August 13 - evening - David visits the home of his longtime girlfriend. He stays later than usual (the girlfriend's mother fell asleep and didn't enforce the time he was supposed to leave/usually left). David calls his mother around 11:15pm and asks for a ride home; she refuses. At 12:45pm David begins the 1.8 mile walk to his home. His route included a main street, a residential road, and the street his house was on.

August 14 - 3:30am - David's body is found about 8 miles from his home in an overgrown, wooded area, still smoldering. David's hands are tied with 1/2 inch rope, the rope runs the length of his body and his ankles are also tied. Similar to a cattle tie. David had been doused with gasoline and set ablaze while still alive. The officer who finds David while on his patrol later becomes the main person of interest, but his guilt was never proven, despite the officer acting strangely during questioning and failing a polygraph pertaining to David's murder.

August 15 - David's body is identified by a ring he wore. Autopsy notes cause of death as extensive body burns. No defensive wounds noted and the only injuries other than burns were irregular abrasions on both sides of his back. David had a carbon monoxide blood saturation of 20%.

Present day:

People close to the case have been told by current law enforcement that there is no doubt of the officer's guilt, it just could never be verified by physical evidence. Law enforcement also claims that evidence has been "lost" over the years. There is no indication of the evidence being tested after DNA technology became available.

Evidence available at the time of the crime (to my knowledge):
-David's mid-calf high boots
-Ring
-Fragments of rope David was bound with
-Fragments of David's clothing
-A small 35mm tin film canister with a small amount of marijuana
-Vacuumings from the officer's vehicle
-Soil samples from the crime scene
-POSSIBLY tire imprints from the crime scene

The officer suspected of the crime has now died.


I am currently investigating this case and getting kick back from law enforcement and citizens. Many of David's friends cannot be reached or are unwilling to speak with me.
 

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  • #2
This sure was a viscous crime.
 
  • #3
Yes. Very brutal and personal. I'm doing everything I can to find answers.
 
  • #4
  • #5
I've just seen this case on gray Hughes. It's very strange. The way he was bound and burned makes it appear to be more than just a murder. It's too personal. Shooting etc would have been quicker. This took time and thought. Anyone could have seen the fire and come to investigate. The killer knew he wouldn't be disturbed. David was missing for a few hrs before he was killed. Someone knows something. I hope this is resolved by someone's conscience.
 
  • #6
A few years ago I was looking into unsolved cases and unidentified found persons near the areas where the (ex)officer lived after leaving MO. If I remember right, there were at least a couple of cases that seemed to have potential connections and are worth looking into further in that regard. I began this process myself but something came up in my life and I stopped. I have been thinking of picking it up again but first I want to listen to Dylan Kingsley's podcast and see what else has been dug up over the last few years.
 
  • #7
Crazy pyro pedo sheriff's deputy
Local women did good job on this
 
  • #8
This podcast is amazing! The reporting is very high level. Thank you for sharing.
Crazy pyro pedo sheriff's deputy
Local women did good job on this
 
  • #9
I think that this case was far larger than a lone sicko cop. To kill someone in the manner that the victim was murdered, takes a true monster full of hate and rage. I doubt that a chicken hawk with a badge has that much venom to commit such a barbaric act. The cop was undeniably a firebug and sexual predator stalking young teen boys. That is undeniable in my opinion. He probably would be charged with sexual assault against a minor and convicted today.

I feel that there was only one monster floating around south KC, Grandview, Belton and Cass County that could commit such a awful crime around that time. This person was reportedly indirectly connected to an arson that resulted in the death of a mother and child in South KC. (Remember, I was only eleven at that time, so there very well could have been others that I was not aware of, but having spoke with many folks about this, no one that I spoke with seems to think that there were any others who could do this type of thing either.) That person had brutally kidnapped and sexually assaulted a minor girl (and was convicted of that crime) and murdered a young waitress after kidnapping her and assaulting her as well. He was charged, convicted and sentenced to death becoming the first person to be executed in the state of Missouri since 1965. That monster of course was George "Tiny" Mercer.

An interesting thing about this case is that around the time David was murdered, the mothers around where I lived suddenly started talking in hushed tones (I grew up in Belton, Missouri, only a few miles where this happened). I remember overhearing something about a 'boy who was found murdered around here', but no details (thank heavens) or circumstances. I do know that parents became much more observant and careful with their children after that August in 1974. Kids were instructed to stay in groups if they walked into town or went to the park. A degree of carefree innocence was lost.

As the years went onward, I forgot about this horrible crime. And many decades later, I started researching things going on in Cass County in the 70s, and came across David's name. That shook the cobwebs out of my memory, and I remembered this story. The only hope that we have after all these years is to discover other evidence that might shine a light on other motives or people. Now, almost everyone associated with this crime has passed on. Any clues found are usually hearsay. Very few people remember this crime, and often times those that do remember do not want to discuss it. It is always sad when a young person passes, no matter the cause. However, this one haunts me because of the brutality and that it seems (at least to me) that certain people were protecting a possible suspect. I would like to believe that this was simple incompetence, but I suspect that more was involved that will ever be known.

Just my thoughts....
 

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