James Scott

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 life sentence with parole eligibility in a Missouri prison. The 2007 book Damned to Eternity and a 2022 Vice News documentary have been critical of Scott's conviction.

Early life Scott grew up in Quincy, Illinois. By his twenties, he had a criminal record and had served time in six prisons. While most of these arrests were for burglary, 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.

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

The flood washed out all of the bridges in the area—the only links across the river for . While no one was killed, many people on the Missouri side of the river had to drive 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. 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. Due to publicity, the trial took place in Kirksville, 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. A month later, he was sentenced to life in prison, to run consecutively with his 10-year burglary sentence in Illinois.

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. 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.

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.

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

James Robert Scott was approved for release on parole July 6, 2028 following a parole hearing held July 22, 2026.