James Lammers

James Bernard Lammers (July 16, 1924 – January 5, 1952) was an American mass murderer who murdered his pregnant wife and three children. On December 12, 1950, he strangled his wife, who was about seven months pregnant, to death, then set their trailer on fire, resulting in their children dying. James was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, sentenced to death, and executed in 1952.

Murders, trial, and execution The family had moved into a trailer in Troy eight weeks before the murders after James found work as a bulldozer operator there. However, six weeks later, he was fired.

Early in the morning of December 13, 1950, the Lammers' family trailer was discovered on fire. Neighbors tried to help, but were unable to extinguish the blaze. The bodies of 23-year-old Geneva Orr Lammers, 3-year-old Laura Mae Lammers, 2-year-old Melva Jean Lammers, and nine-month-old LaVern Francis Lammers were found. The children were sleeping during the fire and had died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The fire was initially thought to be accidental, and the police guessed that an exploding oil stove caused it. James Lammers was nowhere to be found. He returned to town on December 14, 1950, claiming he had been out looking for work, and that someone had recognized his truck in Topeka and told him about the fire.

Suspecting that James had intentionally set the fire, the police asked him to show them where he had traveled. James took the police to Independence, Missouri, then to Kansas City, Missouri. He attempted to provide an alibi by showing them a receipt for gas supposedly purchased on December 12, but the actual date, December 13, was smudged, and over it was written the number 12. James then took them to Topeka, Kansas, where he had supposedly spent the night in a hotel and mailed a letter home to his wife. The letter was dated December 14, 1950.

During his trial, a woman, 25-year-old Zada Spencer, said she and James had been having an affair for about a year, had a child together, and that he never told her he was married. According to Spencer, after learning she was pregnant, James said a friend of his, whose wife had died, had offered him his trailer home if he would take care of his three children. He asked Spencer if she would marry him on those conditions, but she declined. A friend of Spencer corroborated these allegations, but they were never confirmed.