Federal Judge Killed In Kansas

U.S. District Judge Earl O'Connor and his wife were found shot to death in their home Sunday, and authorities said it appeared the two were alone at the time of the shootings.

Police found O'Connor, 76, and his 66-year-old wife, Jean Ann, dead of apparent gunshot wounds about 8:55 a.m., said Jeff Lanza, spokesman for the FBI in Kansas City, Mo.

Lanza said a nurse who made regular visits to the couple's home contacted a relative after there was no answer at the O'Connor home. The relative then contacted police, who discovered the bodies in a bedroom of their home in Mission, which is a suburb of Kansas City, Mo.

He said there was no sign of forced entry, and that he did not know why the nurse had been visiting the home. The O'Connors were last seen about 8 p.m. Saturday, Lanza said.

"The initial investigation would not lead one to conclude that a third person was involved," Lanza said.

He said it appeared that the judge and his wife had each been shot once, but that an autopsy was scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.

"Neither had been shot in the head," Lanza said.

"Who shot who ... we cannot determine at this point in time," Lanza told CBS. "We're going to have to rely on a coroner to give us a post-mortem examination."

He said one gun was found in the bedroom, but he would not say if authorities also found a note. He also would not say what type of gun was used.

Asked if it appeared to be a murder-suicide, Lanza said: "I'm not going to comment on that. We are not labeling this until the autopsy has been completed."

The FBI and the Mission police department were handling the investigation.

U.S. District Judge G. Thomas VanBebber, who had known O'Connor since 1960 when VanBebber was an assistant U.S. attorney and O'Connor was a state district judge, said O'Connor was in good health, extremely active and enjoyed playing golf.

"That's why we're so shocked and devastated," he said.

But VanBebber said O'Connor's wife had been "quite ill recently and had been in poor health. I think that stressed the judge considerably."

VanBebber said O'Connor took senior status five or six years ago, a designation that permits federal judges to reduce their caseload.

"He still came to the courthouse every day and carried a substantial caseload," VanBebber said.

"I don't know of anyone who had really worked harder in furtherance of the administration of justice through the court system than Judge O'Connor. He was always dedicated to that."

Lahoma Yates, the executive director of the Federal Executive Board, said she has known O'Connor about 20 years. Yates said O'Connor said his wife once worked as a nurse.

Yates said she saw Mrs. O'Connor at the dedication of a new courthouse in May and again a few months ago.

"She looked great then," Yates aid.

About a week ago, Yates received a letter from O'Connor. He wrote to express his sympathy for her mother's death two weeks earlier.

"I was just devastated when I heard this, he was a personal friend," she said.

Tom and Tanya Johnston, the O'Connors next-door neighbors for the last five years, said the judge and his wife were considerate neighbors.

"They were just really sweet, wonderful people," said Tanya Johnston. "They brought us Christmas presents every year. They were very giving. Really, the best neighbors you could ask for."

They said since Judge O'Connor had taken senior status, the couple had done a lot of traveling.

Other neighbors said they had seen the nurse visiting the house, but did not know the nature of Mrs. O'Connor's illness.

O'Connor was appointed federal judge in October 1971. His most recent case involved The Woodland's Race Track's reorganization plan. In October, O'Connor upheld a bankruptcy court's decision to reject The Woodland's reorganization plan and ordered the sale of the greyhound and horse racing facility.

He ruled that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John T. Flannagan had properly rejected The Woodlands' plan to emerge from bankruptcy in partnership with an Indian-owned casino.

Flannagan had ruled earlier this year that the plan had little chance of succeeding and was unfair to the creditors.

O'Connor also tried a 1975 desegregation lawsuit filed against the Kansas City, Kan., school district by the U.S. Department of Justice.

O'Connor exercised control over the school district since 1977, when he found parts of the district to be racially segregated in the assignment of students and faculty and ordered that corrected.

In April 1997, the Kansas City, Kan., school board adopted a redistricting and improvement plan in an attempt to end a 24-year-old desegregation lawsuit.