Murder charge filed against suspect who was identified by KC shooting victim in 911 call
Jackson County prosecutors have charged a Kansas City man with murder in the Thursday morning shooting of 66-year-old Douglas Menser, who authorities say used some of his final words to identify his killer by name.
Donald Crowe, 39, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday. He was being held on a $250,000 bond in the Jackson County jail.
Around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Kansas City police officers were dispatched to a home in the 7600 block of East 108th Terrace on a reported shooting. Charging documents say the 911 caller was Menser.
Over the phone, Menser said he had been shot eight times and that Crowe had done it, authorities allege. Menser also told first responding officers, who found him on the front porch, that Crowe had left the area.
Menser was taken by ambulance to Research Medical Center and pronounced dead there less than two hours later.
Crowe was located by police officers amid a canvass of the Ruskin Heights neighborhood, according to charging documents. Police officers arrested him in the 7100 block of East 107th Street.
During an interview at Kansas City police headquarters, Crowe allegedly told detectives he left work around 5:30 a.m. and got home to find Menser asleep in a chair in the living room. Crowe initially told them he went to sleep in his bedroom and woke up a few hours later to the sound of people fighting across the street. Crowe added he argued with Menser and then walked to a convenience store.
Crowe denied knowing anything about the shooting and said Menser “was fine” when he left the address and “did not know why” Menser would claim he was the shooter, a Kansas City homicide detective wrote in a probable-cause affidavit in support of charges against Crowe.
Court records did not list an attorney for Crowe as of Friday.
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 9:09 PM.
