POTOSI (AP) – A 75-year-old man who was given the death penalty for killing his wife in a 1992 courthouse shooting rampage has died at a Missouri prison.
The state Department of Corrections on Monday said Kenneth Baumruk died of apparent natural causes late Friday at the Potosi Correctional Center in southeast Missouri.
Baumruk shot and killed his wife, Mary, at the St. Louis County courthouse in Clayton on May 5, 1992, as their divorce hearing was about to begin. He also wounded both of their lawyers, a security guard and a bailiff, and fired shots at the judge, three police officers and others.
Police returned fire, striking Baumruk nine times, including twice in the head.
Prosecutors said Baumruk had flown to Missouri from his home in Seattle with two handguns in his luggage.