Community rallies around woman accused of killing son

IRONTON, Mo. -- More than two weeks since Dixie Shunk killed her son with two shotgun blasts, many around this community still rally around the accused woman they consider a law-abiding, God-fearing grandmother.

To a lot of folks around here, victim Joe Shunk Jr. had it coming. Friends said Shunk Jr. had a history of abusing his family.

"It was self-defense. The whole community knows it," local Kevin Neel said in backing 66-year-old Dixie Shunk, free on bond on charges of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Jan. 9 death of her son.

"Ain't no way a woman is going to take her own son's life unless something is terribly wrong," added Pete Klinsbeck, blaming the 41-year-old victim.

Since the shooting, petitions have circulated locally seeking justice for the accused homemaker who has spent most of her life here. About 60 protesters -- including the woman's husband, Shunk Jr.'s wife and his two children -- marched outside the office of Iron County Prosecutor Carl Strange, demanding that charges be dropped.

Supporters have set up a fund to help the family pay for Dixie Shunk's legal expenses.

When asked to discuss the case, Dixie Shunk defers to her attorney. Her husband of 46 years, Joe Shunk Sr., said "we can't say anything about anything."

Just weeks before his death, friends said, Shunk Jr. threw his mother against a wall, cracking several of her ribs. He struck his wife, friends added, breaking her collarbone as his marriage crumbled and his construction business flirted with bankruptcy.

Iron County officials say they have been unable to find anything to indicate that Shunk Jr., who lived in a trailer next to his parents' home, had a previous criminal record.

Talked of bankruptcy

On the evening of Jan. 9, the senior Shunk tried to talk to his son about bankruptcy papers. But Shunk Jr. began "ranting and raving," his father has said, at one point threatening the father with a shotgun.

Dixie Shunk tried to talk to her son but left the room, saying she couldn't take it anymore, Shunk Sr. has said.

A short time later, from another room, Shunk Sr. heard what sounded like his son getting off the living room couch; he believes his son may have threatened his wife. Dixie Shunk shot her son twice with a 16-gauge shotgun.

Iron County Sheriff Allen Mathes has said Dixie Shunk was charged because evidence at the scene showed a crime, and "it'll be up to the courts to decide innocence or guilt."

"I took this job for a reason -- to enforce the laws, and I'm doing the best I can," said Strange, the prosecutor who took office just nine days before the shooting.

Dixie Shunk awaits a March 7 preliminary hearing.