Marvin Heemeyer

Marvin John Heemeyer (October 28, 1951 – June 4, 2004) was an American automobile muffler repair shop owner who demolished numerous buildings with a modified bulldozer in Granby, Colorado, before killing himself during the attack after being confronted by law enforcement.

Marvin Heemeyer
Marvin John Heemeyer
Born(1951-10-28)October 28, 1951
Castlewood, South Dakota, U.S.
DiedJune 4, 2004(2004-06-04) (aged 52)
Granby, Colorado, U.S.
Cause of deathSuicide by gunshot
Occupation(s)Welder, automobile repair shop owner
Known for"Killdozer" rampage

Heemeyer had various grudges against Granby town officials, neighbors of his muffler shop, the local press and various other citizens of Granby. Over about eighteen months, Heemeyer had secretly armored a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with layers of steel and concrete.

On Friday, June 4, 2004, Heemeyer used the bulldozer to demolish the Granby town hall, the house of a former mayor, and several other buildings. He killed himself after the bulldozer got stuck in a hardware store he was destroying. No one else was injured or killed,[1] in part due to timely evacuation orders.[2]

Background

Marvin Heemeyer was born on October 28, 1951, on a dairy farm in South Dakota. In 1974, he moved to Colorado because he was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base.[3] In 1989,[3] he moved to Grand Lake, Colorado, about 16 miles (26 km) away from Granby.[4][5] His friends stated that he had no relatives in the Granby–Grand Lake area.[6]

John Bauldree, a friend of Heemeyer's, said that he was a likable person. Heemeyer's brother Ken stated that he "would bend over backwards for anyone". However, while many people described Heemeyer as an affable person, local resident Christie Baker claimed that her husband was threatened by Heemeyer after refusing to pay for a disputed muffler repair.[7] Baker said her husband later paid Heemeyer $124.[7]

Gambling legalization

Heemeyer was strongly in favor of gambling legalization and campaigned for the cause on several occasions, disseminating at least two issues of a newspaper on the issue.[8][9]

In 1994, a measure was proposed that would have legalized gambling in Grand Lake and Heemeyer was an avid campaigner for it. A reporter said he nearly came to blows with Heemeyer over the matter when discussing it.[10]

Local press conflict

Heemeyer had several disagreements of opinion with the local press, which may have led to his targeting of the Sky-Hi News building in Granby.[9]

The local press ran stories that disagreed with Heemeyer's view on gambling legalization, stories that promoted the concrete batch plant after it had taken the additional steps to reduce noise and dust pollution, and stories that covered Heemeyer's other conflicts and failures.[9]

Zoning dispute

In 1992, Heemeyer purchased 2 acres (0.8 ha) of land from the Resolution Trust Corporation, the federal agency organized to handle the assets of failed savings and loan associations, for $42,000 to build a muffler shop. The land was previously a concrete plant, and was desired by the Docheff family, who Heemeyer outbid at the auction.[11]

The Docheff family wanted to expand their concrete business by constructing an in-door concrete batch plant and were buying up the land around their current lot, hoping to lease the remaining 23 parcels to small manufacturers, creating a small commercial-light industrial park.[1] When bringing these plans to the town planning commission, they informed them they needed a "Planned Development Overlay District" permit to construct the plant.[1] The town planning commission also suggested that the Docheff family ask if they could purchase Heemeyer's plot to keep the plant away from the hotels and businesses on route 40.[11]

Cody Docheff later approached Heemeyer to ask if he could buy the land to build an in-door concrete batch plant, as part of Mountain Park Concrete across the road.[1] Heemeyer said he'd sell it for $250,000 and Cody Docheff agreed to purchase it for that price, however, according to Susan Docheff, Heemeyer changed his mind and increased the price to $375,000, then to a deal worth approximately $1 million. This negotiation happened before the rezoning proposal had a public hearing at town hall.[5]

Despite not being able to obtain the land, the Docheff family pursued their plans to expand, which included convincing the public it was a good idea. During several town hall meetings, concerns were raised about the dust, the noise and what it would look like. The Docheffs addressed these concerns by promising to install additional measures against dust and noise and presented miniatures of the plant to concerned citizens.[1][11] On January 9th 2001, the preliminary plans for the plant were approved near unanimously, only Heemeyer remained opposed.[1][12] This made the final approval by Granby's zoning commission and trustees in April a formality.[11]

Heemeyer tried to appeal the decision, claiming the construction blocked access to his shop,[11] which it never did according to the judge handling his case, a local journalist,[13] and people inspecting aerial photography.[14]

He also complained to the Environmental Protection Agency, this resulted in the Docheff family having a professional noise analysis done.[1] Heemeyer also filed an array of lawsuits, all of which were dismissed.[1]

According to Killdozer author Patrick Bower, during one of the lawsuits, Joe Docheff made Heemeyer an offer: If he were to drop the frivolous lawsuit against them, they would give him an easement to connect a sewer line to the new concrete plant for free and Docheff would construct it for free. Heemeyer just hung up.[11]

Sewage dispute

The property Heemeyer acquired had an inadequate solution to sewage, specifically, putting it in a buried concrete truck barrel, left there by the previous owners.[11]

Soon after he acquired the property, Heemeyer contacted the sewer district and asked if he could get a sewage line put into the property. The sewer district agreed to annex the property into the sewer district, but that the owner had to put in 100 feet of line and a lift station at their own expense.[11] Paying for the line from the property to the public main line is the standard in the United States.[14]

A lift station was required because sewage has to have an open-channel flow. If it does not, the line will become pressurized, leading to overflow. Since the sewage line would run up-hill, a lift station is required to prevent the line becoming pressurized.[14]

According to a structural engineer, this would have cost Heemeyer approximately $70,000 to install (excluding electricity costs and maintenance costs).[14] This was twice the cost of purchasing the property.

The sewer district told Heemeyer that putting in a septic tank was a less expensive alternative. He rejected both options and said that the government not paying for the sewage line hookup was "extortion by government fiat".[11]

Despite these setbacks, he did not withdraw his annexation request and subsequently became part of the sewer district.[11]

Eventually, the buried concrete truck barrel filled up to the limit and ran over. Heemeyer addressed this by pumping his sewage with a gasoline pump into the irrigation ditch that ran behind his property.[11]

When complaints of illegal sewage dumping grew louder, the sewer district started enforcing the legal requirement to have a sewer hookup or a septic tank, and fined Heemeyer $2,500 for it and other city code violations at his business,[15] in July 2001, nine years after he was required to have installed either.[12][11]

The bulldozer

Planning and construction

Knowing the zoning decision was final, he traveled to California, bought a bulldozer in an auction and had it shipped to Granby.[1] He kept it outside of his business with a For Sale sign on it and tried to auction it, but few paid it any mind.[1][11] When the bulldozer failed to sell, he saw it as a sign from God he had to start his mission.[11] He sold his property for $425,000 (~10x the original purchase price) to The Trash Co.[1] and took out a lease for half the building he previously owned until he had "finished some work".[11][1]

He erected a wall to separate his space from the rest of the building and changed the locks.[1] While no one in Granby saw him, he quietly worked on the bulldozer and lived on the site.[1][16]

"It is interesting to observe that I was never caught", Heemeyer wrote. "This was a part-time project over a 1½ year time period." He was surprised that several men, who had visited the shed late the previous year, had not noticed the modified bulldozer "especially with the 2,000-pound [910 kg] lift fully exposed ... somehow their vision was clouded".[15]

Specifications
Heemeyer used this armor-plated Komatsu D355A bulldozer to destroy 13 buildings in Granby, Colorado.

The bulldozer was a modified Komatsu D355A,[3] which he referred to as the "MK Tank" (or "Marv's Komatsu Tank"[11]) in audio recordings, fitted with makeshift armor plating covering the cabin, engine, and parts of the tracks. In places, this armor was over 1 foot (30 cm) thick, consisting of 5,000 psi (34 MPa) Quikrete concrete mix sandwiched between sheets of ½-inch (1.3 cm) tool steel[1] (acquired from an automotive dealer in Denver), to make ad-hoc composite armor. This made the machine impervious to small arms fire and resistant to explosives. Three external explosions and more than 200 rounds of ammunition fired at the bulldozer had no effect on it.[16]

For visibility, the bulldozer was fitted with several video cameras linked to two monitors mounted on the vehicle's dashboard. The cameras were protected on the outside by 3-inch (76 mm) shields of clear bulletproof lexan.[16] Compressed-air nozzles were fitted to blow dust away from the video cameras.[16]

Onboard fans and an air conditioner were used to keep Heemeyer cool while driving. He had made three gun-ports, fitted for a .50 caliber rifle, a .308 caliber semi-automatic rifle, and a .22 caliber rifle, all fitted with a ½-inch (1.3 cm) steel plate.

At the time of the demolition it also contained three handguns and enough food and water to last a week.[1]

Demolition and assault

On June 4, 2004, Heemeyer drove his armored bulldozer through the concrete plant, the town hall, the Sky-Hi newspaper office, Gambles General Store, Maple Street Builders, Mountain Parks Electric Co, Liberty Savings Bank, Kopy Kat Graphics, the wall of his former business, the home of a former mayor (in which the mayor's 82-year-old widow then resided), and a hardware store owned by another man Heemeyer named in a lawsuit, as well as a few others.[1] Emergency dispatchers used the reverse 911 emergency system to notify many residents and property owners of the rampage and to evacuate.[17][2]

Heemeyer apparently had no intention of leaving the cabin once he entered it.[16] "Once he tipped that lid shut, he knew he wasn't getting out", Grand County Commissioner Duane Dailey said.

The attack lasted two hours and seven minutes, damaging thirteen buildings.[3] It knocked out natural gas service to the town hall and the concrete plant, damaged a truck, and destroyed part of a utility service center.[18] Despite the great damage to property, no one besides Heemeyer (by a self-inflicted gunshot wound) was killed in the event.[16] The damage was estimated at $7 million,[19][20] $2 million of which was to the concrete plant, which was underinsured, resulting in a payout of $700,000.[1]

He also destroyed several trees that offended a different small business owner, lamps, road signs and curbs.[1]

Timeline

Around 14:23 MST,[1] Heemeyer started his attack.

The first target was Mountain Park Concrete, owned by the Docheff family. At the time of the attack, only Cody Docheff was at the concrete plant, screening topsoil at the gravel pit, when he got a notification over his radio that there was an explosion at the precast shop.[1] A deputy from the sheriffs office tried to shoot the bulldozer, to no effect. Cody Docheff engaged the bulldozer in a front-end loader,[1] during which Heemeyer fired 13 .50 caliber rounds at Cody Docheff.[1] There are photographs of this, taken by electrician Wayne Miller, who happened to be across the street from the concrete plant that day.[1]

After the concrete plant, Heemeyer turned onto Agate avenue and headed south towards town at approximately 5mph.[1]

A local radio announcer went out onto the street and broadcast the event live to his listeners.[1]

As a precaution, six patients from a medical center were evacuated.[1]

Heemeyer had installed two rifles in firing ports on the inside of the bulldozer, and fired fifteen bullets from his rifle at power transformers and propane tanks.[21]

"Had these tanks ruptured and exploded, anyone within one-half mile (800 m) of the explosion could have been endangered", the sheriff's department said. Twelve police officers and residents of a senior citizens complex were within such a range.[5] Heemeyer fired many bullets from his semi-automatic rifle at Cody Docheff when Docheff tried to stop the assault on his concrete plant by using a scraper, which was pushed aside by Heemeyer's bulldozer.[5]

Later, Heemeyer fired on two state patrol officers before they had fired at him.[5] The sheriff's department also noted that eleven of the thirteen buildings Heemeyer bulldozed were occupied until moments before their destruction.[5] At the town library, which was in the basement of the town hall,[1] a children's program was in progress when the incident began.[4][5] The town hall had to be demolished after the fact.[1]

One officer dropped a flash-bang grenade down the bulldozer's exhaust pipe, with no apparent effect. Local and state patrol, including a SWAT team, walked behind and beside the bulldozer, occasionally firing, but the armored bulldozer was impervious to their shots. Attempts to disable the bulldozer's cameras with gunfire failed as the bullets were unable to penetrate the 3-inch (7.6 cm) bulletproof plastic. At one point, undersheriff Glenn Trainor climbed atop the bulldozer and rode it "like a bronc buster, trying to figure out a way to get a bullet inside the dragon".[4] However, he was forced to jump off to avoid being hit with debris.[4]

When he attacked the Liberty Savings Bank, it is understood that he aimed directly at the corner office where a woman who was a part of the zoning board worked.[1]

At this point, local authorities and the Colorado State Patrol feared they were running out of options in terms of firepower, as the approximately 200[1] rounds fired by police had been ineffective up to that point, and that Heemeyer would soon turn against civilians in Granby. Governor Bill Owens allegedly considered authorizing the National Guard to use either an Apache attack helicopter equipped with a Hellfire missile or a two-man fire team equipped with a Javelin anti-tank missile to destroy the bulldozer. As late as 2011, Governor Owens's staff vehemently denied considering such a course of action. Members of the State Patrol, however, claim that to the contrary, the governor did consider authorizing an attack, but ultimately decided against it due to the potential collateral damage of a missile strike in the heart of Granby being significantly higher than what Heemeyer could have caused with his bulldozer.[22] Ultimately, it was deemed unnecessary when Heemeyer became trapped in the basement of a Gambles hardware store, which was owned by one of the town board members.[1][22]

Various problems arose as Heemeyer destroyed the Gambles hardware store. The radiator of the bulldozer had been damaged, and the engine was leaking various fluids. The bulldozer's engine failed, and Heemeyer dropped a tread into the store's basement and could not get out. About a minute later, at 16:30 MST,[1] one of the SWAT team members, who had swarmed around the machine, reported hearing a single gunshot from inside the cab. It was later determined that Heemeyer had shot himself in the head with a .357-caliber handgun.[16][23]

Police first used explosives in an attempt to remove the steel plates and for a fear of booby-traps, but after the third explosion failed, they cut through them with an oxyacetylene cutting torch.[1] After getting inside, they found the access hatch and enough food and water to last a week.[1][11] Grand County Emergency Management Director Jim Holahan stated that authorities were able to access and remove Heemeyer's body at 2 a.m. the next day, on June 5.[24]

Aftermath

Many town records and archives were destroyed along with the town hall.[1]

Defenders of Heemeyer said that he made a point of not hurting anybody during his bulldozer rampage.[16] Ian Daugherty, a bakery owner, said Heemeyer "went out of his way" not to harm anyone. Cody Docheff stated that "if Heemeyer truly didn’t want to hurt anybody, he would have plundered the center of town on the weekend, when most businesses would have been empty".[1] The sheriff's department said that the fact that no one was injured was not due to good intent as much as to good luck.

On April 19, 2005, the town announced plans to scrap Heemeyer's bulldozer. The plan involved dispersing individual pieces to many separate scrap yards to prevent souvenir-taking.[25]

Although no one other than Heemeyer was killed in the incident, the modified bulldozer has occasionally been referred to as the "Killdozer". It is unclear whether this is in allusion to the 1944 short story "Killdozer!" or its 1974 film adaptation, or if this is independent coinage.

In recent years, Heemeyer gained a small internet following for his bulldozer attack, comparable to the Unabomber's following in the same or similar communities, with people politicizing and justifying his actions as reasonable and proportional.[26][27] An example of such a group is the Boogaloo boys.[28]

Motivation

A search of Heemeyer's house in Grand Lake, Colorado turned up plans for the bulldozer on his PC.[1]

In addition to writings that he left on the wall of his shed, Heemeyer recorded three audio tapes explaining his motivation for the attack. The tapes contained two separate recordings on each side for a total of six recordings. He mailed these to his brother in South Dakota shortly before stepping into his bulldozer.[29]

Heemeyer's brother turned the tapes over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who in turn sent them to the Grand County Sheriff's Department. The tapes are about 2.5 hours in length.[29] The first recording was made on April 13, 2004. The last recording was made on May 22, thirteen days before the rampage.

"God built me for this job", Heemeyer said in the first recording. He also said it was God's plan that he not be married or have a family so that he could be in a position to carry out such an attack. "I think God will bless me to get the machine done, to drive it, to do the stuff that I have to do", he said. "God blessed me in advance for the task that I am about to undertake. It is my duty. God has asked me to do this. It's a cross that I am going to carry and I'm carrying it in God's name."[30]

Investigators later found Heemeyer's handwritten list of targets of 107 people who he thought had wronged him. The Docheff family was at the top of the list (written as "Douche-eff"[11]). The list also included the local Catholic church (which he did not damage), various buildings, companies, judges, politicians, newspaper editors and anyone who sided against him in past disputes.[1][11][31]

Notes found by investigators after the incident indicated that the primary motivation for the bulldozer rampage was his plan to stop the concrete plant from being built near his shop. These notes indicated that he held grudges over the zoning approval. "I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable", he wrote. "Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things."[15]

See also

References
  1. Bagsarian, Tom (November 1, 2005). "Terror in Granby" (PDF). The Concrete Producer. Rosemont, IL: Hanley Wood. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  2. Interesting, All That's (February 8, 2022). "Marvin Heemeyer Wanted Revenge — So He Built A 'Killdozer'". All That's Interesting. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  3. "Crews Begin Dismantling Granby Bulldozer". KMGH-TV. April 15, 2005. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2006.
  4. Best, Allen (July 2004). "Looking at the dark side of paradise". Colorado Central Magazine. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  5. "Dozer rampage roots run deep". Durango Telegraph. June 24, 2004. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
  6. "Armed man goes on bulldozer rampage". UMDstudents.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  7. Ingold, John; Brittany Anas; Howard Pankratz (June 6, 2004). "'Something snapped': Suspect called emotional, angry over rezoning fight". The Denver Post. pp. A01. 'He has threatened my husband's life,' resident Christie Baker recalled. 'He threatened my husband over a muffler.' Baker said she and her husband, Doug, had taken a truck to Heemeyer's shop, and he installed the wrong type of muffler on it. They refused to pay, and Christie Baker said they soon heard through word of mouth about Heemeyer's threat. They paid the $124 in cash, using an intermediary to give Heemeyer the money, she said.
  8. Smith, Martin J. (July 25, 2004). "Martyr Without a Cause". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  9. Brower, Patrick (November 29, 2017). "Heemeyer's rage started during Grand Lake gambling furor; Hatred of newspaper predated town tiff". www.skyhinews.com. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  10. Smith, Martin J. (July 25, 2004). "Martyr Without a Cause". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  11. Brower, Patrick F (January 1, 2017). KILLDOZER: The True Story of the Colorado Bulldozer Rampage. Wilcox Swanson LLC/ dba Deer Track Publishing. ISBN 9780982352014.
  12. "Granby Rampage Damage Expected To Exceed several Million". KMGH-TV. June 7, 2004. Archived from the original on January 15, 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2006.
  13. Brower, Patrick (September 20, 2018). "Bogus Killdozer YouTube full of false facts". Killdozer the Book. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  14. Roczniak, Justin (October 12, 2018). donoteat this BONUS EPISODE 2: KILLDOZER! (Video game).
  15. "Rampager was surprised his plans went unnoticed". The Spokesman Review. June 10, 2004. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved June 6, 2007.
  16. "Man who bulldozed through Colo. town is dead". NBC News. June 5, 2004. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2006.
  17. Correll, Deedee (June 6, 2004). "Grudge spawns trail of destruction: Granby man kills himself after rampage in armor-plated bulldozer". The Gazette. Colorado Springs. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  18. "Rampages – Tanks, Bulldozers, Whatever You Got!". Archived from the original on October 17, 2006.
  19. Jason, Bellows. "The Wrath of the Killdozer". DamnInteresting.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  20. Bina, Tonya. "Granby: 2004 bulldozer rampage subject of History Channel program". Sky-Hi Daily News. Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2008.
  21. "Interior of Bulldozer". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  22. Franscell, Ron (April 5, 2011). The Crime Buff's Guide to the Outlaw Rocky Mountains. Guilford, Connecticut: Morris Book Publishing LLC. pp. 107–108.
  23. Aguilar, John (June 25, 2004). "Armored dozer was bad to go: Reporters get peek inside Heemeyer's destructive machine". Rocky Mountain News. Denver. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016. He ended his rampage leaving few buildings out of his reign of terror. Granby Letter Saver inc., the Granby Beauty Salon, Luksa Family Restaurant, and places past the 4th intersection.
  24. Banda, P. Solomon (June 6, 2004). "Officials: Man who drove bulldozer is dead: Colorado rampage leaves man dead of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound". The Oakland Tribune. San Jose. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  25. Crecente, Brian D. (March 1, 2005). "Dozer digs its own grave: Used by angry resident to attack Granby, machine to be dismantled as scrap". Rocky Mountain News. Denver. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  26. "Killdozer". Know Your Meme. June 6, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  27. Donovan, John (September 16, 2021). "The Strange Story of 'Killdozer' and the Man Behind It". HowStuffWorks. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  28. Brower, Patrick (July 29, 2020). "Meme inspired by Heemeyer rampage in Granby becomes extreme right wing rallying cry". Killdozer the Book. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  29. Woodward, Paula (August 31, 2004). "Newly released audiotapes detail reasons for Granby bulldozer rampage". KUSA-TV. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  30. "Man Who Bulldozed Granby Says He Got Idea From God". KMGH-TV. Archived from the original on April 13, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2008.
  31. "7NEWS Looks Inside Granby Work Shed Where 'Dozer Was Outfitted". KMGH-TV. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008.
  32. «Если больше нет юродивых, кто скажет о беззаконии и лжи?», Kommersant.ru, 14 May 2014
  33. "Tread". IMDb. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.

Further reading
  • Bagsarian, Tom (November 1, 2005). "Terror in Granby" (PDF). The Concrete Producer. Rosemont, IL: Hanley Wood. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  • Brower, Patrick F (January 1, 2017). KILLDOZER: The True Story of the Colorado Bulldozer Rampage. Wilcox Swanson LLC/ dba Deer Track Publishing. ISBN 9780982352014.
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