Abbey Gunman Was Upset After Divorce

The man who killed two monks and wounded two others at a Roman Catholic abbey before killing himself had been upset with the church over his divorce, The Associated Press learned Wednesday.

Investigators had been struggling to uncover information about 71-year-old Lloyd Robert Jeffress as they searched for a motive in his attack on Conception Abbey, a rural monastery in northwest Missouri.

Jeffress' first victim, Brother Damian Larson, pleaded for his life before Jeffress shot him, Abbot Gregory Polan said Wednesday.

"He said `No, no,' and (Jeffress) just plugged him ... with a (rifle)," Polan said.

Jeffress' daughter and brother said he had been upset at the way he was treated by the church after his divorce, a source close to the investigation told the AP on condition of anonymity.

The source did not know when Jeffress and his wife were married or divorced and could not elaborate on how the church allegedly mistreated Jeffress.

Officials were trying to locate his former wife.

The abbey, about 90 miles north of Kansas City, reopened Wednesday. Bells at the abbey's basilica tolled at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday — exactly 24 hours after the bloodshed began. The bells sounded once for each year that the two slain monks had been there. The Rev. Philip Schuster spent 51 of his 85 years at the abbey. Larson, 64, had been there 32 years.

Detectives initially had pulled together few details about the gunman — a devout Roman Catholic in his youth, a former soldier and postal worker, a loner estranged from his family.

Abbey officials said they had found nothing in their guest, seminary and employment records to link Jeffress to Conception Abbey. Investigators said they had no evidence connecting the shootings to the sex abuse scandal in which Catholic priests have been accused of molesting children.

Relatives of Jeffress said he was a devoted Catholic in his teens, said Highway Patrol Sgt. Sheldon Lyon.

However, he had recently attended services at a Methodist church in Kearney, where he lived.

The Rev. Brad Reed, pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Kearney, said Jeffress was there last Sunday. "He shook my hand and responded with a smile," Reed said. "He was a quiet gentleman who responded with a word or two at most."

Jeffress was born in Kansas City, Kan., and worked for a steel company and later the Postal Service, Lyon said.

Neighbors said Jeffress kept to himself and never had visitors.

Jeffress did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and had no known criminal past, Lyon said. Investigators searching his apartment in Kearney found anti-depression medication, though it was not clear whether Jeffress had been taking it. Autopsy results should reveal whether he was taking medications at the time of the shooting, Lyon said.

Two phone numbers were written on a piece of paper found on Jeffress' body — one for his brother, the other for his apartment manager, Lyon said. He had not contacted his daughter or brother, both living in Missouri, for several years, authorities said.

Authorities said Jeffress arrived at the abbey about 8:35 a.m. Monday and walked into the basilica, pulling out two weapons from boxes he had carried in.

He then went into the monastery in an adjacent building and shot Larson. Two other monks were shot after they peeked out of an office to see what had happened.

Jeffress then returned to the basilica where he shot Schuster twice, at least once in the head.

The injured monks remained hospitalized and were expected to recover.