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Richard Dale Crum: Mississippi man arrested for shooting 6 people dead faces death penalty

The 52-year-old was charged with one count of capital murder for the killing of his ex-wife Debra McNally Crum
UPDATED FEB 23, 2023
Richard Dale Crum, 52, mass shooting accused allegedly kills 6 people (Tate County Sheriff's Office)
Richard Dale Crum, 52, mass shooting accused allegedly kills 6 people (Tate County Sheriff's Office)

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI: Mississippi man accused of going on a shooting spree last week, murdering six people, including his ex-wife and stepfather, now faces an additional charge, as per the authorities. Richard Dale Crum, 52, was arrested on Friday, February 17 after the shootings in Tate County, close to the Tennessee state border. The 52-year-old was charged with one count of capital murder for the killing of his ex-wife, Debra McNally Crum, according to a statement from Tate County Sheriff Brad Lance.

Richard Crum had already been charged with one count of first-degree murder for the shooting death of Chris Eugene Boyce, 59, a Florida resident who was in a pickup truck outside a convenience store in Arkabutla.

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Who are the victims?

Authorities named the other victims as Lynda McCain, 78, Charles Manuel, 76, John Rorie, 59, and George McCain, 73, in addition to Boyce and Crum's ex-wife.

Crum had not yet been put on trial as of Tuesday for the shooting murders of Manuel, Rorie, and the McCains. Lynda was McCain's niece, and George McCain was Crum's stepfather, as per a Fox8 Live report. Boyce and his brother had been in town cleaning up a property that they had received from their deceased uncle, according to Norma Washington, Boyce's aunt who spoke to Associated Press. It's unclear if Richard Crum knew one of the siblings.

'He left us alone. We left him alone'

Debra Crum, 60, was fatally shot in the Coldwater house she shared with her boyfriend George Drane a little more than four years after Richard and Debra Crum's divorce. Before getting split, the two, according to Drane, were separated for five or six years. Drane claimed that Richard Crum hadn't been seen in seven or eight years. "I thought it was a random act. I don’t know about the rest of it," Drane stated. "He left us alone. We left him alone." Drane claimed that Richard Crum broke into their house, hit him in the head with a pistol, and then shot Debra Crum in the head. Richard Crum went to the house after shooting Boyce to death at the convenience store in nearby Arkabutla, according to the sheriff.

'Ex-husband's troubling behavior'

Richard Crum showed indications of trouble, according to Ashley McKinney, a 38-year-old Memphis, Tennessee woman who dated Debra Crum's son Sid Furniss when they were teenagers. Debra Crum asked Waffle House employee McKinney to keep her company after she started to feel uneasy working her overnight shifts there by herself due to her ex-husband's troubling behavior. As per McKinney, Richard Crum mostly did odd tasks like cutting firewood. 

Due to "security concerns" associated with the case, Sheriff Brad Lance stated that Richard Crum's initial court appearance was held at the Tate County Jail on Monday. The judge scheduled Richard Crum's preliminary hearing for Thursday morning at the Tate County Justice Court and ruled that he must be held without bond.

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