Standard Gravure shooting
Encyclopedia
The Standard Gravure shooting occurred on September 14, 1989 when 47-year old Joseph T. Wesbecker, a pressman on disability for mental illness entered Standard Gravure, his former workplace, and killed eight people and injured twelve before committing suicide
after a history of suicidal ideation
. The murders and subsequent lawsuit against Eli Lilly & Co is covered in the book The Power to Harm: Mind, Murder, and Drugs on Trial (Allen Lane and Penguin 1996) by investigative journalist John Cornwell.
AK-47
derivative, a SIG Sauer 9mm pistol and a duffel bag containing two MAC-11
s, a .38 caliber
Smith & Wesson
revolver, a bayonet
and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
He took the elevator to the executive reception area on the third floor and, as soon as the doors opened, began firing at receptionists Sharon Needy, killing her, and Angela Bowman, leaving her paralyzed by a shot in the back. Searching for Michael Shea, president of Standard Gravure, and other supervisors and bosses of the plant, Wesbecker calmly walked through the hallways, deliberately shooting at people. He killed James Husband and injured Forrest Conrad, Paula Warman and John Stein, a maintenance supervisor, who was shot in the head and abdomen, before heading down the stairs to the pressroom, where he killed Paul Sallee. Then wounded two electricians from Marine Electric that were working on a broken machine, Stanley Hatfield and David Sadenfaden and left the duffel bag under a stairwell.
Wesbecker walked down to the basement, where he encountered pressman John Tingle, who, alerted by the loud noises, went to see what's going on. Tingle greeted his colleague, asking him what's happening. Wesbecker replied: "Hi John...I told them I'd be back. Get away from me." After Tingle had gone out of the way Wesbecker continued his path through the basement, shooting Richard Barger in the back, killing him. According to witnesses Wesbecker approached Barger's body and apologized, apparently he killed him accidentally, as he didn't see whom he was shooting at.
Back on the press floor he shot at anyone in his way, killing James Wible and Lloyd White and finally entered the break room where he emptied his magazine
hitting all seven workers present and killed William Ganote with a shot to the head. Wesbecker then reloaded and resumed firing, fatally wounding Kenneth Fentress.
When Wesbecker stepped out to the pressroom he pulled his SIG Sauer, put it under his chin and shot himself, ending his shooting spree that had lasted for about half an hour, in which he fired about forty rounds of ammunition, and left eight people dead and twelve wounded. Additionally one person suffered a heart attack.
When police searched Wesbecker's house they recovered a shotgun, a Colt 9-millimeter revolver, a .32 revolver and a starter's pistol, and found Wesbecker's will
, as well as a copy of Time Magazine on the kitchen table, featuring an article about Patrick Purdy who had killed five children and injured thirty others with a Type 56 assault rifle
, the same weapon as used by Wesbecker, at a school in Stockton, California
earlier the same year.
was a major Louisville, Kentucky
printing company founded in 1922. Reduced revenues led to an employee wage freeze in 1982, and in 1986 the company was sold. Standard Gravure's customers were retailers, many of which were in the process of going out of business, and at the same time, paper shortages were occurring in the marketplace. It was a time of cutbacks, stress and difficulty.
for almost a year. His grandfather, to whom he felt closely attached, died when he was four.
As Wesbecker was a rather poor student he dropped out of high school
in the ninth grade
, but he later managed to earn his G.E.D.. In 1960 he started to work as a pressman at a printing plant and married one year later. With his wife he had two sons, James and Joseph. In 1971, finally, he moved to Standard Gravure, where he soon earned a reputation as a determined, hard-working, loyal and reliable worker
The year 1978 marked the beginning of the downward slope of Wesbecker's life. His marriage ended in divorce
and a bitter battle over custody and support for his two sons ensued. It was also the year he admitted himself for the first time to a hospital to seek psychiatric treatment. In 1983 Wesbecker married again, though it was rather short-lived and divorced one year later. As a consequence he became increasingly reclusive and suicidal, separated from most of his family members and lived an overall lonely life, in whose center his work remained.
After the selling of Standard Gravure and the subsequent management change in 1986, Wesbecker was assigned to a mechanical folder. Soon thereafter he complained about stress and overstrainment and asked to be placed back at his old job, but his request was declined, wherefore he grew increasingly hostile against the new management, grew wary of conspiracies aimed to harass him, and began to complain about policy changes at the company. He also complained that exposure to toluene
at work caused him memory loss, dizziness and "blackout spells".
The hostility culminated in May 1987, when Wesbecker filed a complaint with the Jefferson County
Human Relations Commission, charging that he was harassed and discriminated for his psychological state and deliberately put under stressful conditions. The following examination indeed diagnosed that Wesbecker suffered from depression and manic depression, thus substantiating his claim of discrimination, and he was put on Prozac.
In August 1988, Wesbecker stopped working and was finally put on a long-term disability leave in February 1989, though there was also an agreement to re-employ him as soon as he recovered sufficiently. Between August 1988 and May 1989 Wesbecker bought several weapons, among them the AK-47
and pistol he later used in the shooting. Shortly before the shooting at Standard Gravure, where he showed up the last time on September 13, Wesbecker presumably received a letter from the company, announcing the cancellation of his disability income.
According to CBS's 60 Minutes
, "In 1984, five years before he took Prozac, Wesbecker's medical records show that he had this conversation with a doctor. Have you ever felt like harming someone else? 'Yes,' Wesbecker said. Who? 'My foreman.' When? 'At work.' The same medical records show Wesbecker had already attempted suicide 12 to 15 times."
In the years prior to the shooting Wesbecker more than once threatened to "kill a bunch of people" or to bomb Standard Gravure and at one point considered hiring an assassin to kill several executives of the company. Apparently he even discussed these things with his wife before their divorce. When he left Standard Gravure in August 1988 he told other workers that he would come back, wipe out the place and get even with the company and shortly before the shooting he told one of his aunts that he was upset about things at work and said they will get paid back, but as he said these things all the time, she didn't take the threat too seriously.
One of the employees at Standard Gravure said after the shooting: "This guy's been talking about this for a year. He's been talking about guns and Soldier of Fortune magazine. He's paranoid, and he thought everyone was after him."
Three days prior to the shooting, on September 11, Wesbecker told his psychiatrist that a foreman had forced Wesbecker to perform oral sex
on him in front of his co-workers to get off the folder. In his notes, the psychiatrist wrote "Prozac?"
against manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company
, claiming that Wesbecker's use of Prozac contributed to his actions. The jury decided 9-3 for Lilly. Not until several years later was it revealed that Lilly had arranged a settlement with the plaintiffs in exchange for setting legal precedent.
Wesbecker is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
after a history of suicidal ideation
Suicidal ideation
Suicidal ideation is a common medical term for thoughts about suicide, which may be as detailed as a formulated plan, without the suicidal act itself. Although most people who undergo suicidal ideation do not commit suicide, some go on to make suicide attempts...
. The murders and subsequent lawsuit against Eli Lilly & Co is covered in the book The Power to Harm: Mind, Murder, and Drugs on Trial (Allen Lane and Penguin 1996) by investigative journalist John Cornwell.
The shooting
On September 14, 1989, Wesbecker, who was nicknamed "Rocky" by his colleagues, parked his car in front of the main entrance of Standard Gravure and entered the plant at 8:30 a.m. carrying a Chinese-made semiautomaticSemi-automatic firearm
A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...
AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
derivative, a SIG Sauer 9mm pistol and a duffel bag containing two MAC-11
MAC-11
The Ingram MAC-11 is a machine pistol developed by American gun designer Gordon Ingram at the Military Armament Corporation during the 1970s...
s, a .38 caliber
.38 Special
The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. The corporate headquarters is in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1852, Smith & Wesson's pistols and revolvers have become standard issue to police and armed forces throughout the world...
revolver, a bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
He took the elevator to the executive reception area on the third floor and, as soon as the doors opened, began firing at receptionists Sharon Needy, killing her, and Angela Bowman, leaving her paralyzed by a shot in the back. Searching for Michael Shea, president of Standard Gravure, and other supervisors and bosses of the plant, Wesbecker calmly walked through the hallways, deliberately shooting at people. He killed James Husband and injured Forrest Conrad, Paula Warman and John Stein, a maintenance supervisor, who was shot in the head and abdomen, before heading down the stairs to the pressroom, where he killed Paul Sallee. Then wounded two electricians from Marine Electric that were working on a broken machine, Stanley Hatfield and David Sadenfaden and left the duffel bag under a stairwell.
Wesbecker walked down to the basement, where he encountered pressman John Tingle, who, alerted by the loud noises, went to see what's going on. Tingle greeted his colleague, asking him what's happening. Wesbecker replied: "Hi John...I told them I'd be back. Get away from me." After Tingle had gone out of the way Wesbecker continued his path through the basement, shooting Richard Barger in the back, killing him. According to witnesses Wesbecker approached Barger's body and apologized, apparently he killed him accidentally, as he didn't see whom he was shooting at.
Back on the press floor he shot at anyone in his way, killing James Wible and Lloyd White and finally entered the break room where he emptied his magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
hitting all seven workers present and killed William Ganote with a shot to the head. Wesbecker then reloaded and resumed firing, fatally wounding Kenneth Fentress.
When Wesbecker stepped out to the pressroom he pulled his SIG Sauer, put it under his chin and shot himself, ending his shooting spree that had lasted for about half an hour, in which he fired about forty rounds of ammunition, and left eight people dead and twelve wounded. Additionally one person suffered a heart attack.
When police searched Wesbecker's house they recovered a shotgun, a Colt 9-millimeter revolver, a .32 revolver and a starter's pistol, and found Wesbecker's will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
, as well as a copy of Time Magazine on the kitchen table, featuring an article about Patrick Purdy who had killed five children and injured thirty others with a Type 56 assault rifle
Type 56 Assault Rifle
The Type 56 assault rifle is a Chinese copy of the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle, which has been manufactured since 1956. It was produced by State Factory 66 from 1956-73, then by Norinco from 1973 onwards.-Service history:...
, the same weapon as used by Wesbecker, at a school in Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
earlier the same year.
Victims
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Standard Gravure
Standard GravureStandard Gravure
Standard Gravure was a Louisville, Kentucky rotogravure printing company founded in 1922 by Robert Worth Bingham and owned by the powerful Bingham family. For decades, it printed the weekly The Courier-Journal Magazine as well as rotogravure sections for other newspapers as well as Parade...
was a major Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
printing company founded in 1922. Reduced revenues led to an employee wage freeze in 1982, and in 1986 the company was sold. Standard Gravure's customers were retailers, many of which were in the process of going out of business, and at the same time, paper shortages were occurring in the marketplace. It was a time of cutbacks, stress and difficulty.
The shooter
Joseph Thomas Wesbecker, whose father, a construction worker, died in a fall, when he was a mere 13 months old, was born on April 27, 1942. After his father's death he was raised as an only child by his mother Martha, herself only 16-years old at that time, and her family, though he was often passed from place to place during his early childhood, and at one time deposited in an orphanageOrphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
for almost a year. His grandfather, to whom he felt closely attached, died when he was four.
As Wesbecker was a rather poor student he dropped out of high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in the ninth grade
Ninth grade
Ninth grade is the ninth post-kindergarten year of school education in some school systems. The students are 13 to 15 years of age, depending on when their birthday occurs. Depending on the school district, ninth grade is usually the first year of high school....
, but he later managed to earn his G.E.D.. In 1960 he started to work as a pressman at a printing plant and married one year later. With his wife he had two sons, James and Joseph. In 1971, finally, he moved to Standard Gravure, where he soon earned a reputation as a determined, hard-working, loyal and reliable worker
The year 1978 marked the beginning of the downward slope of Wesbecker's life. His marriage ended in divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
and a bitter battle over custody and support for his two sons ensued. It was also the year he admitted himself for the first time to a hospital to seek psychiatric treatment. In 1983 Wesbecker married again, though it was rather short-lived and divorced one year later. As a consequence he became increasingly reclusive and suicidal, separated from most of his family members and lived an overall lonely life, in whose center his work remained.
After the selling of Standard Gravure and the subsequent management change in 1986, Wesbecker was assigned to a mechanical folder. Soon thereafter he complained about stress and overstrainment and asked to be placed back at his old job, but his request was declined, wherefore he grew increasingly hostile against the new management, grew wary of conspiracies aimed to harass him, and began to complain about policy changes at the company. He also complained that exposure to toluene
Toluene
Toluene, formerly known as toluol, is a clear, water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinners. It is a mono-substituted benzene derivative, i.e., one in which a single hydrogen atom from the benzene molecule has been replaced by a univalent group, in this case CH3.It is an aromatic...
at work caused him memory loss, dizziness and "blackout spells".
The hostility culminated in May 1987, when Wesbecker filed a complaint with the Jefferson County
Jefferson County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 693,604 people, 287,012 households, and 183,113 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 305,835 housing units at an average density of...
Human Relations Commission, charging that he was harassed and discriminated for his psychological state and deliberately put under stressful conditions. The following examination indeed diagnosed that Wesbecker suffered from depression and manic depression, thus substantiating his claim of discrimination, and he was put on Prozac.
In August 1988, Wesbecker stopped working and was finally put on a long-term disability leave in February 1989, though there was also an agreement to re-employ him as soon as he recovered sufficiently. Between August 1988 and May 1989 Wesbecker bought several weapons, among them the AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
and pistol he later used in the shooting. Shortly before the shooting at Standard Gravure, where he showed up the last time on September 13, Wesbecker presumably received a letter from the company, announcing the cancellation of his disability income.
Psychiatric history
Wesbecker had a long history of psychiatric illness and was treated for it in hospitals at least three times between 1978 and 1987. He was diagnosed to suffer from alternating episodes of deep depression and manic depression, was beset, among others, by confusion, anger and anxiety and made several attempts to commit suicide. Hospital records also suggested that Wesbecker posed a threat to himself and others.According to CBS's 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, "In 1984, five years before he took Prozac, Wesbecker's medical records show that he had this conversation with a doctor. Have you ever felt like harming someone else? 'Yes,' Wesbecker said. Who? 'My foreman.' When? 'At work.' The same medical records show Wesbecker had already attempted suicide 12 to 15 times."
In the years prior to the shooting Wesbecker more than once threatened to "kill a bunch of people" or to bomb Standard Gravure and at one point considered hiring an assassin to kill several executives of the company. Apparently he even discussed these things with his wife before their divorce. When he left Standard Gravure in August 1988 he told other workers that he would come back, wipe out the place and get even with the company and shortly before the shooting he told one of his aunts that he was upset about things at work and said they will get paid back, but as he said these things all the time, she didn't take the threat too seriously.
One of the employees at Standard Gravure said after the shooting: "This guy's been talking about this for a year. He's been talking about guns and Soldier of Fortune magazine. He's paranoid, and he thought everyone was after him."
Three days prior to the shooting, on September 11, Wesbecker told his psychiatrist that a foreman had forced Wesbecker to perform oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on him in front of his co-workers to get off the folder. In his notes, the psychiatrist wrote "Prozac?"
Aftermath
In August 1989, less than a month before the shooting, Wesbecker had started taking Prozac. The wounded and the families of those killed filed a lawsuitLawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...
, claiming that Wesbecker's use of Prozac contributed to his actions. The jury decided 9-3 for Lilly. Not until several years later was it revealed that Lilly had arranged a settlement with the plaintiffs in exchange for setting legal precedent.
Wesbecker is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.
External links
- Photo of Wesbecker's grave
- Gunman made threats over the past 20 years, The Deseret News (September 15, 1989)
- Disgruntled employee kills seven, wounds 13, takes own life, Mohave Daily Miner (September 15, 1989)
- In Killer's Disorder, Cycles Of Elation and Depression, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
(September 16, 1989) - Peck, Dennis L. & Dolch, Norman Allan: Extraordinary Behavior