Man arrested in connection with K.C. killings

Associated Press Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A man charged in the death of one of five men found rotting in his rented Kansas City home apparently had little intention of evading police for long.

Gary Beach, 56, was arrested Tuesday after leaving a handwritten card listing the names of the dead and how they could be identified. He also left a signed greeting card whose handwriting was matched to the list. "It's pretty clear that that list was left so that whoever found the bodies would be able to know who the victims were and be able to address the matter in a rational manner," Jackson County prosecutor Bob Beaird said. Beach, a limousine driver, was charged late Monday with first- degree murder in one of the killings. Beach's step-nephew -- 45-year- old Kenneth Gulley, of Independence -- was found with a bullet wound to his face. Beach was being detained without bond in the city jail and was scheduled for arraignment this morning. Three other victims were identified: Michael Davis, 32, of Kansas City; Mark Nelson, 28, of Kansas City; and Christopher Conrad, 27, of Overland Park, Kan. Efforts to identify the fifth body were hampered by advanced decomposition and may require the man's dental records, officials said. All five men had been dead for days. Neighbors reported hearing gunshots from inside the midtown home early Friday morning, and said the home's air conditioner ran nonstop since then in an apparent attempt to slow decomposition. Beaird wouldn't say how the other men died or why Beach was charged with Gulley's death and not the others. "I don't want to say anything that would jeopardize this investigation," he said. It didn't take long for police to catch Beach. Hours before he was captured without a struggle Tuesday morning at a hotel parking lot just five blocks from the crime scene, Beach called relatives to let them know his whereabouts -- knowing they would alert police, Sgt. Dave Bernard said. Beach even made calls to the department's robbery unit and tips hotline. Bernard wouldn't say what Beach said during those calls. Investigators spent much of Tuesday pulling evidence from Beach's house, including doors and filled boxes and bags. Beach was the home's only permanent occupant, police said, though investigators said Davis may recently have moved in. Beach and all five victims worked in the taxi and limousine business, but it isn't known how they made their way to the home before their deaths. Gulley's daughter, Brandy Sales, said Gulley had two other, younger children. She said he came home every night, and when he didn't show up Wednesday, they worried. "I'm angry, hurt and I'm mad." she said. "I just am sorry for the other families." Neighbors heard four gunshots between midnight and 2 a.m. Friday from Beach's one-story bungalow near the city's Westport entertainment district. Days later, they recoiled at the stench wafting from the house. "This is really quite a mystery," said Judy Bigler, who watched as investigators probed the home. "I can't believe something like this could happen right across the street."

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