Believed Distraught Over Finances : Farmer Kills Bank Head, Wife, Neighbor and Self

A farmer, apparently distraught over financial problems, killed his wife, a bank president and a neighbor Monday and then shot himself to death, authorities said.

State and local authorities identified the gunman as Dale Burr, 63, who farmed near this southeastern Iowa town of about 550 people.

Officers said Burr walked into the Hills Bank & Trust Co. with a 12-gauge shotgun shortly before noon and shot and killed its president, John Hughes.

“I was in there doing some business,” said B. D. Duwa, a bank customer from Kalona. “I turned around and heard the shot. Everybody started running. I thought it was a robbery.”

Wife, Neighbor Found Dead

State Banking Supt. Tom Huston said the bank had notified him that Hughes was shot by a “farmer customer,” whom he identified as Burr.

State and Johnson County authorities believe Burr also killed his wife and a neighbor, Richard Goody, before he turned the gun on himself, said Sheriff Gary Hughes, who is the dead bank official’s brother.

“At this time we believe the shootings were related to financial difficulties that Burr had with the bank and Mr. Goody,” the sheriff said.

Emily Burr, 65, was found dead at home and Goody was found dead in his home nearby, sheriff’s Sgt. Dick Edwards said. The motive in shooting Goody had not been established.

Turned Shotgun on Self

Burr was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy about a mile from his farm, and committed suicide in his truck while the deputy was waiting for backup assistance, the sheriff’s statement said.

“This is what we’ve been warning about all along,” said Dan Levitas of Prairiefire, an advocacy group that has counseled farmers since the outset of the agricultural credit crisis. “This is just terrible.”