Paradise Found. part 2

Kellen McKinney walked into a gaudy little Raytown christian bookstore back in October of 2004. When he left he was one hundred dollars richer. John and Mildred Caylor spent the final moments of their 55 year marriage, bleeding out on the floor, both of their throats had been cut. McKinney was convicted, given 4 life sentences. Over a half a century of marriage, 44 years of selling books that promised the path to Paradise, a hundred bucks, and one sociopath later, it ended right there. Three adult sons left to deal with the aftermath. Now Mckinney is back in court, the conviction overturned on a technicality unrelated to the actual crime. DNA convicted him the first time, and it's unlikely the outcome will be any different this time around. McKinney could man up, not appeal, let the dead rest. But that's not going to happen, he lacked the humanity in 2004, so it's absence comes as no surprise 5 years later.

It's a safe bet that the Caylors never suspected their lives would end as they did. Of all the businesses that run along that particular stretch of road, a mom and pop christian bookstore was probably the least likely target for a robbery. While the manner in which they died was about as horrific as one can imagine, it is the randomness, the unlikelihood of it ever happening in the first place, that I find particularly chilling. Today, just a little over 5 years after the crime took place, the former bookstore is devoid of the crudely hand painted signs. Time has bleached all of the color from the building. No bright signs, just graying wood and dusty windows.

The Paradise Motel and Caylors Bibles and Books could not be more different. The Caylors and the victim at the Paradise, Kusumben Patel, could not be more different. Their cultures, Countries of birth, probably their religious beliefs. One business promised the way to Paradise through religious beliefs and a higher path. The other promised Paradise in a yellow sign and heart shaped Jacuzzis. The customers of each of these businesses were a stark contrast to one another. People came to that Raytown bookstore looking for their God, or some kind of peace in their lives. The customers of the Paradise Motel were likely looking for a place to practice their vice, feed a habit, sell their flesh. That stretch of road fronting the Paradise is a long way from the two lanes that run in front of Caylors bookstore, not so much in distance, but in atmosphere.

In my first post I said there were some similarities between these two crimes. Monday I'll show you what the are.