In Broad Daylight: A murder in Skidmore Missouri by Harry N. MacLean

Author:Harry N. MacLean
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harry N. MacLean
Published: 2021-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 33

In April 1981, Robert Nourie resigned as prosecuting attorney for Nodaway County to return to the Marine Corps in the judge advocate general’s office. Some people in Skidmore said that he must have left because he couldn’t take the heat that came with prosecuting Ken McElroy, but they had no evidence to substantiate this charge. Nourie’s departure could have been a break for the defense. The prosecuting attorney’s job was not highly sought after by lawyers in Nodaway County. The annual pay was $21,500, and the job was so time-consuming that the opportunities for an outside practice were limited. Probably none of the senior experienced attorneys in Maryville would be willing to abandon their practices to accept the position, and if one of them were to accept the case as a special prosecutor, his busy schedule might well require a postponement to allow him time to prepare for trial. A younger, inexperienced lawyer might not be anxious to go all the way to a jury trial, so a deal for a misdemeanor might be possible.

Neither the townspeople nor the defense anticipated the skills and abilities of the twenty-eight-year-old legal-aid lawyer, three years out of law school, who accepted the appointment as the new prosecuting attorney.

David Baird seemed more like a man born and raised in a refined Boston suburb than a man from agricultural northwest Missouri. Studious looking, with dark-rimmed glasses, he had an educated demeanor and an easy professional poise. He was well spoken, thoughtful, and sure of himself—without a trace of a typical barrister’s arrogance. Baird had attended grade school and high school in Maryville, and had been graduated from Notre Dame in 1975. He obtained a degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia School of Law in 1978, then worked for legal aid in St. Joe. In June 1978, he returned to Maryville as a legal-aid lawyer.

In April, when Nourie spoke to Baird about accepting an appointment as prosecuting attorney, the two of them reviewed the existing caseload. When they came to the McElroy case, set for trial only two months away, Nourie suggested that because Baird was new, he might want to ask the state attorney general’s office to try the case. Baird didn’t consider the possibility for a moment. If anything, he anticipated the challenge and welcomed the opportunity to try a major felony case right out of the gate.

Baird had run into McElroy and McFadin before when, as a legal intern, he had assisted Amy Davis in the prosecution of the Romaine Henry shooting, doing legal research and preparing witnesses. He had been absolutely amazed when the jury acquitted McElroy. The two cases were very similar in that the prosecution’s case rested entirely on the testimony of one key witness. If that jury had not believed Romaine, maybe this jury wouldn’t believe Bo, either. Baird compensated for his lack of experience in criminal cases by meticulous preparation. He re-interviewed all the witnesses, studied the transcripts, visited the crime scene several times, and ordered charts and diagrams of the scene drawn up for presentation to the jury.

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