Authorities say divorce strongest lead on abbey gunman's motive

CONCEPTION, Mo. -- Lloyd Jeffress' bitterness toward the Roman Catholic Church after his decades-ago divorce is the best lead investigators have to help explain his attack on a northwest Missouri monastery, authorities said Wednesday.

"It is a lead that we are looking into," said Capt. Johnnie Hogget with the Missouri State Highway Patrol in St. Joseph. "It is a possible motive but we have not confirmed it. We are in the process of checking that information now."

Jeffress' grudge stemming from his divorce from Della Steward in 1959 -- the Catholic Church annulled the marriage 20 years later -- was pursued as detectives sought to understand why Jeffress killed two monks and wounded two others Monday at the Conception Abbey, before committing suicide.

Authorities said Wednesday that the gunman's brother, daughter and ex-wife told investigators the 71-year-old Jeffress was upset by the way he was treated by the church after the divorce. They could not elaborate on how the church might have mistreated Jeffress, but investigators said they planned to request annulment paperwork from the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph that could explain his claims.

"We're hoping some documents from the church will shed some light on this," said Sgt. Sheldon Lyon of the highway patrol. "We don't know if we'll ever be able to say this is the motive, but it sure could be."

Jeffress' brother and daughter also clarified that Jeffress had converted to Catholicism when he married Della Steward and initially was a devout parishioner -- contradicting earlier reports that Jeffress joined the church as a teen-ager.

Jeffress and Steward -- who were married Nov. 24, 1954, according to state records -- were together less than five years in Jackson County. They were granted a divorce on May 11, 1959.

The diocese said the couple was granted an annulment by the church in 1979. Both Jeffress and Steward would have participated in the annulment process, but details about their relationship are kept private, spokeswoman Rebecca Summers said.

"We were shocked," Summers said Wednesday after learning of the annulment.

An earlier search of the diocese's electronic database of membership turned up nothing on Jeffress, and none of its 100 parishes had indicated he was a member, Summers said. The diocese only learned of Jeffress' status within the church after an AP reporter asked if he had been granted an annulment.

Judicial Vicar, the Rev. C. Michael Coleman, who oversees the diocese's marriage tribunal, declined to comment.

Investigators also have said they have no evidence connecting the shootings to the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal.

Wednesday's information gave investigators hope of finally landing a motive for the shootings.

The Rev. Philip Schuster and Brother Damian Larson were shot execution-style in the spree that officials say lasted about five minutes. Jeffress never uttered a word as he walked the monastery halls, firing a semiautomatic assault rifle at those he crossed.

Monks told investigators Jeffress first shot Larson as he pleaded for his life.

"He said 'No,no,' and Jeffress just plugged him ... with a rifle," Abbot Gregory Polan said.

Jeffress eventually returned to the basilica, put the barrel of a Ruger .22-caliber rifle into his mouth and pulled the trigger, Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Espey said. Both weapons were found near his body.

A search of his apartment at a seniors complex in Kearney turned up nothing to suggest he had become preoccupied with the Catholic church.

Jeffress did not leave a note, and investigators have turned up no other hard clues as to why he drove his Chevrolet Cavalier to the abbey. If he drove along Interstate 35 north from his apartment, Jeffress would have passed a large billboard that directs tourists to the abbey, Espey said.

Jeffress eventually returned to the basilica, put the barrel of a Ruger .22-caliber rifle into his mouth and pulled the trigger, Espey said. Both weapons were found near his body.

A search of his apartment at a seniors complex in Kearney turned up nothing to suggest he had become preoccupied with the Catholic church, Espey said.

Jeffress did not leave a note, and investigators have turned up no other hard clues as to why he drove his Chevrolet Cavalier to the abbey. If he drove along Interstate 35 north from his apartment, Jeffress would have passed a large billboard that directs tourists to the abbey, Espey said.

"We don't know whether he was driving around looking for a church and saw the sign and thought 'That's where they're going to be,"' Espey said. "Who knows if he saw it, or if he was already headed there?"

Jeffress recently had been attending Methodist services at a church in Kearney, where he lived. A woman who rented Jeffress an apartment in Excelsior Springs, Mo., between 1993-97 said he never spoke of Steward, their marriage or his feelings about the Catholic church.

"We assumed he had been married because he had a daughter," said apartment manager Sue McDougan. "But he never talked about a wife."

The abbey, meanwhile, known as a peaceful rest stop for weary travelers and curious tourists, reopened to the public.

The monks rededicated the basilica by sprinkling holy water on its walls and offering several prayers in a 7 a.m. ceremony Wednesday that was followed by a formal Mass, said Dan Madden, abbey spokesman.

"Whenever there is a crime such as this, it defiles the sacredness of the space," Madden said. "We had to bless it to make it sacred again."

The yellow police tape that had hung across the basilica steps for two days was removed and visitors were allowed inside. While crowds were sparse, numerous florists were making deliveries in anticipation of Friday's funeral Mass for Schuster and Larson, Madden said.

"We normally get a number of buses, but we assume people might be staying away out of respect for the monks," he said.

The abbey was expecting several hundred mourners to attend the funeral that will be open to the public. Nodaway County sheriff's deputies and the highway patrol were planning for security, Espey said.

Detectives continued to sort through Jeffress' past. He had been in the Army, but no other details were known because his records were among hundreds destroyed in a fire.

Jeffress was born in Kansas City, Kan., and worked for a steel company and later the U.S. Postal Service in the Kansas City area, Lyon said.

Jeffress did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack and had no known criminal past, Lyon said. Investigators searching his apartment in Kearney found a prescription for the anti-depression medication Prozac, though it was not clear whether Jeffress had been taking it or when it was prescribed.

It could be two weeks before the autopsy's toxicology results, which will tell whether Jeffress had the medication or any other substances in his system, are complete, Espey said.Nodaway County sheriff's deputies and the highway patrol were planning for security, Espey said.

Detectives continued to sort through Jeffress' past. He had been in the Army, but no other details were known because his records were among hundreds destroyed in a fire.

Jeffress was born in Kansas City, Kan., and worked for a steel company and later the U.S. Postal Service in the Kansas City area, Lyon said.

Jeffress did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack and had no known criminal past, Lyon said. Investigators searching his apartment in Kearney found a prescription for the anti-depression medication Prozac, though it was not clear whether Jeffress had been taking it or when it was prescribed.

It could be two weeks before the autopsy's toxicology results, which will tell whether Jeffress had the medication or any other substances in his system, are complete, Espey said.

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AP reporter Kia Shant'e Breaux contributed information for this story.