Violent film fan acted out scene as he killed four of his relatives
Grayden Denham placed coins on the eyes of his grandparents, his sister and his baby nephew after shooting them in the head – then set fire to their bodies
Russell and Shirley Denham shared their sprawling rural house in Edgerton, Missouri, with two grandchildren and a great-grandson, delighted to have their family around them as they enjoyed their retirement.
Russell, 82, had met British-born Shirley, 81, while he was working in England during his time with the US Air Force.
After marrying in 1957, they travelled the world on Russell’s postings and when he ended his service they settled in Edgerton.
Shirley had worked at the local bank for 20 years and the popular couple were active with the church.
But the most important thing in Shirley and Russell’s lives was their family. They had a vast extended family and their two adult sons now had children of their own, making them grandparents and greatgrandparents.
As well as sharing their ranch-style home with their dog, Jack, the couple’s grandkids Heather Ager and Grayden Denham were living with them, along with an adorable new family member.
Heather, 32, was a new mum and was utterly besotted with her three-month-old son, Mason Schiavoni. And Russell and Shirley had welcomed in her brother Denham despite the 24-year-old being suspected of drug abuse and having a history with the police for violence.
Denham had lost his driving licence after several violations, had been put on probation and done community service for assault. But he was still family – and Russell and Shirley were there to support him.
It was just before midnight on 19 February 2016 when neighbours saw Russell and Shirley’s house on fire and called the emergency services. Some of them thought they could see “mannequins” burning in the yard.
When firefighters arrived they found the house engulfed by flames but there were also separate fires in the land around the house.
As they battled the blazes, firefighters were horrified to discover the source of the smaller fires. The things that the neighbours had spotted weren’t mannequins – they were bodies. Three sets of remains were found on fire in the front yard and later identified as Shirley, Heather and Mason.
Russell’s body was found near a small shed, east of the house. The family dog was dead too.
Although the blaze was brought under control, the home was gutted. Shockingly, investigators determined the four family members had been shot in the head. They also found pennies near the bodies, which seemed unusual.
A red gasoline can was discovered nearby, which police determined had held the fuel the house and the bodies were doused with. The family had been killed and then set on fire.
Shirley’s brown Nissan Versa was gone and there was also no sign of Denham. His remains were not found in the ashes and police immediately named him as a person of interest.
An alert was put out across multiple states for Denham and Shirley’s missing car. The
community was stunned. Where the family home had once stood, there was an empty, blackened foundation.
And while the quadruple murder had rocked local people, they were shaken even further when it emerged that Denham was suspected of killing his grandparents, his sister and his newborn nephew.
Wandering naked
Denham’s mother, Shelly, spoke to the press, saying her son was innocent and he was being judged on the way he looked. She suggested that perhaps he had been drugged and was lost somewhere.
Then, just days later, Denham was found walking naked – 1,000 miles away in Arizona, near a school.
He gave a false date of birth and was taken to hospital for treatment.
A local motel had also reported a suspicious, unlocked parked car that had been abandoned. It was Shirley’s car – and Denham’s wallet was found next to it, along with a pile of clothes. The car’s licence plates had been replaced several times, with ones that had been stolen in Oklahoma and Texas.
At first, Denham was held in Arizona for vehicle theft, then he was brought back to Missouri.
In June 2016, he was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, plus animal abuse, arson and stealing a vehicle.
There were countless delays in getting the case to trial, but after Denham’s mental capacity was assessed, he was finally declared fit to face a jury.
There were discussions about the possibility of the death sentence – but that was eventually waived, with the prosecution knowing it would be a heavy sentence if he was found guilty of the heinous crime.
The trial was finally held last year and Denham pleaded not guilty.
Witnesses testified that there had been rising tensions in the family home. The day before the killings, Denham and his grandfather had been seen arguing.
There had also been disputes caused by Denham’s drug abuse – he was said to be using methamphetamine.
Without a confession from Denham, it was impossible to know what had actually triggered the killings and the court could only speculate.
However, when it came to the pennies found at the crime scene, there was testimony that linked them to Denham.
His ex-girlfriend told the court that one of his favourite films was 1999 vigilante action thriller
The Boondock Saints – in which the killers placed pennies on the eyes of their victims.
Did it explain the presence of pennies near the victims’ bodies? Each set of remains, even the dog’s, had pennies on or near the eyes.
The prosecution also said Denham had told a neighbour two weeks before the horror, “Grandma and Grandpa don’t have much longer to live any more.” And on the day of the fires, Denham had bought three petrol cans from a local store and filled them with diesel.
It all pointed to the killings having been planned. The court heard Denham had most likely shot his family members in their heads – some multiple times – and then torched the scene. His clothes were found to have traces of gunshot residue and fuel.
‘Shocking and gruesome’
In December, Denham was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of armed criminal action, plus arson, animal abuse and vehicle theft.
In February this year, now aged 30, he was sentenced to four life terms without the chance of parole, plus another 115 years. He will die behind bars – and the prosecution said they were pleased with the result.
“This defendant massacred his entire family, including the family dog,” they said.
“He shot each of them – including his threemonth-old nephew – in the head and then he burned their bodies.
“These were shocking and gruesome murders of a loving family.”
The case of Shirley, Russell, Heather and Mason’s tragic end is thought to be the only quadruple murder that has happened in that area of Missouri.
And it is all the more horrific because the victims were from three generations of the same family, one of them just a baby – and they all died at the hands of one of their own relatives.
Family had been everything to Russell and Shirley, and his sister – but it had clearly meant nothing to depraved Denham.