“Criminals are made, not born” -Kehoe Andrew Kehoe “Criminals are made, not born” -Kehoe

Background: Born in Tecumseh, Michigan One of 13 children Mother died when he was five Father remarried, argued with stepmom a lot When he was 14, stove exploded on stepmom, he watched her burn for a little bit and then poured water on her, she died from injuries later on Went to Tecumseh High School and Michigan State College Studied electrical engineering Worked as an electrician in St. Louis, Missouri Returned to Michigan and married Nellie Price Bought farm house outside the village of Bath Treasurer of the Bath Consolidated School Board Nellie had TB, he stopped paying mortgage and insurance, began foreclosure Tuberculosis- Bacteria called Mycobacteria attack the lungs and other parts of the body. Foreclosure- legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset.

Crimes: Crime Date Victim(s) Killed his wife May 18, 1927 Ellen “Nellie” Price School Explosion killed 44 injuring 58, mostly children Blew up his truck Superintendent and kehoe himself Set his house and barn on fire Animals on the farm

Evidence: Wooden sign wired to the farm’s fence Set his own house on fire with wife’s dead body Angry over the defeat of Bath Township Clerk position Neighbor thought he was planning a murderous revenge around this time Found that all equipment and material on farm could have paid off the mortgage if sold Volunteer handyman and had access to the building

Sentence: Committed suicide the day of these events Was by his truck, struggling with the superintendent when his truck blew up

Theory: I believe that Andrew Kehoe’s crime and deviance is Anomie theory. Andrew was known as someone who was difficult to deal with and always had personal dealings. He was the treasurer and member of the school board and he was the town clerk. So he was very involved with the community and always had strong feelings and opinions to be heard. There were several events leading up to the crime that coincides with anomie theory. One of which is that Kehoe lost his position for town clerk, this made Andrew very up set and angry. He always wanted to have some type of control over something and he lost that power. Also, the school board decided to increase taxes of the community. This is something that Andrew didn’t agree with and voted against it, but his vote was out weighted. This made Kehoe very up set because with all of these things happening he also had to deal with the foreclosure on his house and the farm. With his wife ill with Tuberculosis she had been in and out of the hospital and the bills began to add up. He had to pay for her medical bills, insurance bills, and the mortgage all by himself. Eventually he just stopped paying the bills altogether. He started to blame the school for everything and got very angry. He finally started to plan his revenge on the school which was to destroy it along with everyone inside.

Cultural References: Only Voice recordings of survivors Books Movies The case of Mark Barton and Andrew Kehoe by: Steven G. Carley The Bath School Disaster by: Monty J. Ellsworth Bath Massacre by: Arnie Bernstein Movies None Songs Only Voice recordings of survivors