5 Sentenced to Life in Firefighters’ Deaths

Five people were sentenced to life in prison without parole for setting a 1988 construction site fire that killed six firefighters. The firefighters were killed when a burning trailer containing ammonium nitrate, used as a blasting agent for highway construction, exploded. Trial witnesses testified the fire was set to cover thefts from the construction site. U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Stevens Jr. sentenced Frank Sheppard, 47; his brother Skip Sheppard, 37; their nephew Bryan Sheppard, 26; Darlene Edwards, 43; and Richard Brown, 27, all of Kansas City. The five were convicted in February of one count each of arson resulting in deaths.