James Scott (criminal)

Last updated
James Scott
Born
James Robert Scott

(1969-11-20) November 20, 1969 (age 55)
Quincy, Illinois, U.S.
Criminal statusImprisoned at Jefferson City Correctional Center, earliest possible release 2026
SpouseSuzie Scott (divorced)
Conviction(s) November 4, 1994 (overturned February 25, 1997; reinstated April 30, 1998)
Criminal chargeCausing a catastrophe
Penalty20 years to life

James Robert Scott (born November 20, 1969) is an American who was convicted of causing a massive flood of the Mississippi River at West Quincy, Missouri as part of the Great Flood of 1993. Scott is currently serving a sentence of 20 years to life in a Missouri prison. The 2007 book Damned to Eternity and a 2022 Vice News documentary have been critical of Scott's conviction.

Contents

Early life

Scott grew up in Quincy, Illinois. By his twenties, he had a criminal record and had served time in six prisons. [1] While most of these arrests were for burglary, [2] they also included two for arson. In 1982, he burned down his elementary school, Webster Elementary School in Quincy. In 1988, he burned down a garage and set several other fires, getting him a sentence of seven years in prison. [1] [3] [4]

By 1993, Scott was out of prison on parole for the 1988 fire. [5] He worked at a Burger King in Quincy and spent most of his nights drinking heavily. [3]

Flood

During flooding on the Mississippi River in 1993, the Scotts, along with several other residents living in and around Quincy and Hannibal, spent much of mid-July reinforcing the West Quincy levee. [3] By July 16, the river had stopped rising and had dropped 1.5 feet (46 cm) below the levee. That night, however, the levee unexpectedly failed when the river burst through its main stem. The resulting flood inundated 14,000 acres (57 km2) on the Missouri side of the river. [5] In one incident, a barge was sucked into the levee and slammed into a gas station, causing a fire. [6]

The flood washed out all of the bridges in the area—the only links across the river for 200 miles (320 km). While no one was killed, many people on the Missouri side of the river had to drive 80 miles (130 km) to either St. Louis or Burlington, Iowa, fly, or take a ferry to get across the river for several weeks after the waters receded. One major bridge, the Bayview Bridge, was out of service for 71 days. [7] Several businesses in West Quincy were also destroyed, most of which have never returned.

Reporter Michele McCormack of WGEM-TV, the NBC affiliate in Quincy, was told by two Department of Transport workers at the edge of the bridge that a man standing close by was first on the scene. She walked up to him and Scott volunteered to do a live interview with her and photographer Rick Junkerman. [3] Scott said that he had seen a weak spot on the levee and tried to put more sandbags along it. He then said he went for a drink, only to come back and discover the levee had let go. [5] He then helped the Coast Guard load boats into the floodwaters. [3] In a second interview with McCormack at his home which aired after his arrest, he told a similar story.

Investigation

Scott's account of the flood sounded suspicious to Neal Baker, a sergeant with the Quincy Police Department. Baker was familiar with Scott; he had arrested Scott for the 1982 and 1988 arsons while he was a patrolman. For one thing, Baker noticed that Scott looked too clean to have been working on a levee all day. He also had trouble recalling simple details about working on the levee. [3] Baker also noticed that Scott was not wearing a life jacket. [1]

Missouri authorities were also suspicious. The levee had failed at one of its strongest points, and that area had been inspected two hours earlier, although later, two independent soil-science experts testified there was strong evidence the levee failed due to natural causes. [5] They became even more suspicious when they found out about Scott's extensive criminal record, including the arsons. Adams County, Illinois, sheriff's deputies questioned him a week after the flood, and he was unable to keep his story straight. [5]

On October 1, Quincy police arrested Scott on an unrelated burglary charge. During questioning, he admitted to pulling four sandbags from one portion of the levee and moving them to the trouble spot he had claimed to have seen. He told police, "My town was in trouble. The folks in Quincy and in West Quincy were about to lose everything. That’s why I went down to that levee. I had no plans to hurt anything. They needed help, so I helped." [3] While he denied any intent to cause any harm, he said, "I didn't mean to cause a problem but I did... I'm up shit creek." He was released after an hour and a half. [5] However, he was convicted of burglary in January 1994 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. [2]

Trial

Meanwhile, authorities on both sides of the river joined federal authorities to investigate the case. Their investigation eventually led to Joe Flachs, an old friend of Scott's. Flachs told authorities that Scott had told him he had broken the levee so he could strand his wife, Suzie, on the Missouri side of the river. Suzie worked as a waitress at a truck stop in Taylor, Missouri. [3] As the story went, Scott wanted to be free to party, fish, and have an affair. [5] Investigators subsequently found other witnesses who said Scott boasted about breaking the levee at a party after the flood. [1] Based on this evidence, Scott was taken to Missouri for trial in November 1994.

Scott was tried under a 1979 Missouri law that made it a crime to intentionally cause a catastrophe. [3] The law, codified as Section 569.070 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, defined a catastrophe as "death or serious physical injury to ten or more people or substantial damage to five or more buildings or inhabitable structures or substantial damage to a vital public facility which seriously impairs its usefulness or operation." [8] Due to publicity, the trial took place in Kirksville, 68 miles (109 km) west of West Quincy.

Prosecutors and investigators believed that Scott either removed or cut the plastic sheets covering the levee, then burrowed through the sand until the water rushed in. [5] The defense rested largely on two soil-science experts who testified there was strong evidence the levee failed due to natural causes. David Hammer of the University of Missouri said there had been "something like 11 or 12 levee failures" upriver from West Quincy, and Charles Morris of the University of Missouri-Rolla said a last-minute decision to bring in bulldozers to shore up the levee actually weakened its structural integrity. [3] The prosecution presented numerous witnesses claiming to have heard Scott bragging about breaking the levee, and pointed to the inconsistencies in his story.

After a three-day trial, the jury deliberated for four hours and then convicted Scott of causing a catastrophe. [9] A month later, he was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison, to run consecutively with his 10-year burglary sentence in Illinois. [10]

Scott appealed, and on February 25, 1997, the Missouri Court of Appeals threw out the conviction due to prosecutorial misconduct. Prosecutors had not told the defense about two witnesses who reportedly heard Scott say he had deliberately broken the levee. He was retried in 1998, and convicted a second time after three hours of deliberation on April 30. The original sentence was reinstated on July 6. [5]

Among those who testified against James Scott was Norman Haerr, then president of the Fabius River Drainage District [11] and the largest owner of land on the Missouri side of the river directly affected by the flood. According to a Vice News documentary, Haerr received an insurance payout for damages caused to his land, although he did not have flood insurance. Since the flood was determined to have been caused by vandalism, rather than a natural disaster, Haerr was able to collect on his homeowner's insurance. Haerr did not disclose his financial interest in Scott's conviction at his trial. [12]

Post-trial

According to the September 8, 2017 "Criminal" podcast episode titled "Catastrophe", that features Scott, he is eligible for parole in 2026. He maintains his innocence. [13] [3] [14]

Journalism professor Adam Pitluk's 2007 book Damned to Eternity is critical of Scott's conviction. [15] [16] The 2022 Vice News documentary Overlooked was also critical. [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watergate scandal</span> Early 1970s political scandal in the US

The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon which began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974. It revolved around members of a group associated with Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign breaking into and planting listening devices in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 1972, and Nixon's later attempts to hide his administration's involvement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nodaway County, Missouri</span> County in Missouri, United States

Nodaway County is a county located in the northwest part of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,241. Its county seat is Maryville. The county was organized February 14, 1845, and is named for the Nodaway River. It is the largest county by area added to Missouri in the 1836 Platte Purchase and the fifth-largest county by area in Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Quentin Rehabilitation Center</span> Mens prison in California, US

San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Flood of 1993</span> Midwestern United States flooding

The Great Flood of 1993 was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watergate Seven</span> People indicted after Watergate burglary

The Watergate Seven has come to refer to two different groups of people, both of them in the context of the Watergate scandal. Firstly, it can refer to the five men caught on June 17, 1972, burglarizing the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in the Watergate complex, along with their two handlers, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, who were Nixon campaign aides. All seven were tried before Judge John Sirica in January 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Quincy, Missouri</span> Small commercial area in the American state of Missouri

West Quincy is a small commercial area in northeastern Marion County, Missouri, United States, on U.S. Route 24. It has no permanent residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans</span>

As the center of Hurricane Katrina passed southeast of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 1 range with frequent intense gusts. The storm surge caused approximately 23 breaches in the drainage canal and navigational canal levees and flood walls. As mandated in the Flood Control Act of 1965, responsibility for the design and construction of the city’s levees belongs to the United States Army Corps of Engineers and responsibility for their maintenance belongs to the Orleans Levee District. The failures of levees and flood walls during Katrina are considered by experts to be the worst engineering disaster in the history of the United States. By August 31, 2005, 80% of New Orleans was flooded, with some parts under 15 feet (4.6 m) of water. The famous French Quarter and Garden District escaped flooding because those areas are above sea level. The major breaches included the 17th Street Canal levee, the Industrial Canal levee, and the London Avenue Canal flood wall. These breaches caused the majority of the flooding, according to a June 2007 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The flood disaster halted oil production and refining which increased oil prices worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levee breach</span> Situation where a levee containing water is breached

A levee breach or levee failure is a situation where a levee fails or is intentionally breached, causing the previously contained water to flood the land behind the levee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Ferrell</span> American convicted murderer

Roderick Justin "Rod" Ferrell is an American murderer and cult leader. He was a member of a loose-knit gang of teenagers from Murray, Kentucky, known as the "Vampire Clan". Ferrell claimed to be a 500-year-old vampire named Vesago, a character he created for himself after becoming obsessed with the role playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. It was his mother, Sondra Gibson, who first introduced this game to Rod. In 1998, Ferrell pleaded guilty to the double slaying of a couple from Eustis, Florida, becoming the youngest person in Florida on Death Row at that time. Originally sentenced to death, Ferrell's penalty has since been reduced to life imprisonment. In 2023, he married Stephanie Ferrell.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Blake (criminal)</span> 18th century English criminal

Joseph "Blueskin" Blake was an 18th-century English highwayman and prison escapee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Ray Hatcher</span> American serial killer

Charles Ray Hatcher was an American serial killer. He was convicted in Missouri of one murder, has been linked to four others in Illinois and California, and confessed to having murdered a total of 16 people between 1969 and 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June 2008 Midwest floods</span> Weather outbreak that lead to flooding in the American Midwest

The June 2008 Midwestern United States floods were flooding events which affected portions of the Midwestern United States. After months of heavy precipitation, a number of rivers overflowed their banks for several weeks at a time and broke through levees at numerous locations. Flooding continued into July. States affected by the flooding included Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The American Red Cross assisted the victims of flooding and tornadoes across seven states and the National Guard was mobilized to assist in disaster relief and evacuation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Missouri River Flood</span> 2011 flood affecting multiple states in USA

The 2011 flooding event on the Missouri River in the United States was triggered by record snowfall in Rocky Mountains of Montana and Wyoming along with near-record spring rainfall in central and eastern Montana. All six major dams along the Missouri River released record amounts of water to prevent overflow which led to flooding threatening several towns and cities along the river from Montana to Missouri; in particular Bismarck, North Dakota; Pierre, South Dakota; Dakota Dunes, South Dakota; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Sioux City, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Saint Joseph, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri; Jefferson City, Missouri, and St. Louis, Missouri. Many smaller towns were also at risk, suffering the same fate as the larger cities if not worse. According to the National Weather Service, in the second half of the month of May 2011, almost a year's worth of rain fell over the upper Missouri River basin. Extremely heavy rainfall in conjunction with an estimated 212 percent of normal snowpack in the Rocky Mountains contributed to this flooding event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Dee Dee Blanchard</span> 2015 matricide in Missouri, U.S.

Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard was a 48-year-old woman who was found stabbed to death in her Springfield, Missouri, house in June 2015. She was murdered by Nicholas Godejohn. The murder was planned by her daughter, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Midwestern U.S. floods</span> 2019 disaster in the Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States experienced major floods in the spring of 2019, primarily along the Missouri River and its tributaries in Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas. The Mississippi River also saw flooding, although starting later and ending earlier. The 2019 January-to-May period was the wettest on record for the U.S., with multiple severe weather outbreaks through May in the Midwest, High Plains, and South exacerbating the flooding and causing additional damage. Throughout late May and early June, rain in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri caused every site on the Mississippi River to record a top-five crest. At least three people in Iowa and Nebraska died.

On June 2, 2020, David Dorn, a 77-year-old retired police captain, was fatally shot after interrupting the burglary of a pawn shop in The Ville, St. Louis. The incident took place during riots in St. Louis, Missouri following the murder of George Floyd. Stephan Cannon, who was 24 years old at the time of the incident, was convicted of his murder on July 20, 2022.

<i>Damned to Eternity</i> 2007 non-fiction crime book by Adam Pitluk

Damned to Eternity is a 2007 book about the criminal conviction of James Scott, who was found guilty of damaging a levee in 1993, causing flooding.

Adam Pitluk is an American journalist, author and academic. He is the founder of Midwest Luxury Publishing and Groom Lake Media.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lyons, Stephen (January 11, 2008). "Holes in the case?". (Minneapolis) Star Tribune . Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Convicted Arsonist Faces Trial in Breaching of Missouri Levee". New York Times . October 30, 1994. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pitluk, Adam (January 19, 2006). "Scapegoat". Illinois Times . Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  4. ↑ Glass, Doug (November 6, 1994). "Guilty Verdict Brings Relief To Victims of '93 Levee Break". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Coverage of Scott's retrial". Court TV . Archived from the original on July 10, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  6. ↑ Jehl, Douglas (July 18, 1993). "Clinton Tours Floods and Considers Sending Troops". New York Times . Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Floods in Missouri Prevent Border Crossing for Miles". Weekend Edition . National Public Radio. July 17, 1993. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  8. ↑ "2005 Missouri Revised Statutes - § 569.070. — Causing catastrophe". Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Man Guilty of Damaging Levee". The Washington Post . November 4, 1994. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Life in Prison For Saboteur Of River Levee". New York Times . December 6, 1994. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  11. ↑ Budnick, Niki. "Causing a Catastrophy". weather.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  12. ↑ Pitluk, Adam. "Causing a Natural Disaster to Party: The Case of James Scott | Overlooked". Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  13. ↑ "Catastrophe". This is Criminal. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  14. ↑ Sowers, Carol (February 25, 2013). "Jailed Jimmy Scott opens up about Flood of '93". KHQA-TV. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  15. ↑ Damned to Eternity. Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  16. ↑ "Damned to Eternity: The Story of the Man Who They Said Caused the Flood by Adam Pitluk". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  17. ↑ Holliday, Doc (2022-12-05). "Video Claims James Scott Innocent of 1993 West Quincy Levee Break". 100.9 The Eagle. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  18. ↑ Adam, David (2022-12-07). "New film about James Scott takes look back at Flood of 1993, questions his life sentence". Muddy River News. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-05-30.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.