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 in 2004.
"Killdozer" redirects here. For other uses, see Killdozer (disambiguation).
Marvin Heemeyer
October 28, 1951
June 4, 2004 (aged 52)
United States Air Force veteran, welder, automobile repair shop owner
"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 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 became stuck in a hardware store he was destroying. No one else was injured or killed,[1] in part due to timely evacuation orders.[2]
Zoning and sewage disputes
In 1992, Heemeyer purchased 2 acres (0.8 ha) of land for $42,000 at auction with plans to lease the property to a friend who intended to build an auto repair shop on the site.[8] Present at the auction was Cody Docheff, whose family had previously owned the property. Heemeyer claimed that Cody Docheff had berated him for several minutes afterward out of anger at losing the property, however, no other party present recalled any such interaction.[8]
The property had a rudimentary sewage storage solution in the form of a buried cement mixer left by the previous owners.[8] The cost to update the sewer system would be nearly double the $42,000 Heemeyer paid for the property.
City officials told Heemeyer that putting in a septic tank was a less expensive alternative, but he rejected both options and said that the government not paying for the sewage line hookup was "extortion by government fiat".[8] Despite these setbacks, he did not withdraw his annexation request and subsequently became part of the sewer district.[8]
By 1993, Heemeyer had abandoned plans to rent the property to a friend and instead opened a muffler repair shop on the grounds.[8] According to Heemeyer, his friend had lost interest in the property in around April 1992 because of oil spills and environmental issues.[11]
In 1997, the Docheff family planned to expand their business to include a concrete batch plant and were buying up the land around their current lot, hoping to lease the remaining 23 parcels to small manufacturers.[1] They were informed by the town planning commission that they needed a "Planned Development Overlay District" permit to construct the plant as part of their Mountain Park Concrete development.[1] The 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.[8]
Heemeyer asked for $250,000 for his property, but later claimed he had had the lot reappraised and asked for an additional $125,000. The Docheffs managed to collect $350,000, but according to Susan Docheff, Heemeyer again upped his asking price, claiming he had the property appraised again at a higher value, this time asking for $450,000.[1][8] This negotiation happened before the rezoning proposal had a public hearing at town hall.[5]
Despite the deal falling through, the Docheff family pursued their plans to expand their business, and purchased a defunct commercial subdivision opposite Heemeyer's lot. Heemeyer had attempted to buy this land just before the Docheffs, but was unsuccessful. He later proposed a land swap whereby he would receive the prime lot. The Docheffs initially accepted the offer, but Heemeyer demanded the Docheffs construct a new building on the lot at great expense. The negotiations fell apart, with Heemeyer stonewalling the Docheffs.
Heemeyer launched a public campaign against the planned concrete plant. His campaign was initially successful, with members of the public concerned about potential environmental impacts packing into hearings on the construction proposals. The Docheffs addressed these concerns by promising to install additional measures against dust and noise and presented miniatures of the plant to concerned citizens. Opposition to the proposal dwindled, and the plan was set to move forward again.[1][8] In November 2000, Heemeyer filed a lawsuit to block the project.
A city clerk wrote a letter to the newspaper arguing that Heemeyer had a vendetta against the Docheffs. The clerk referenced Heemeyer's increasingly "exorbitant" demands during negotiations for the sale of his property to the Docheffs, during which he had the land reappraised several times.
By January 9, 2001, Heemeyer had lost most of his allies in opposition to the concrete plant, and city officials almost unanimously approved its construction.[8] On January 9, 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.[8]
Heemeyer tried to appeal the decision, claiming the construction blocked access to his shop,[8] which it never did according to the judge handling his case,[13] a local journalist,[14] and people inspecting aerial photography.[13] He also complained to the Environmental Protection Agency; this resulted in the Docheff family having a professional noise analysis done.[1]
In June 2001, Joe Docheff made Heemeyer an offer whereby if Heemeyer dropped the lawsuit, they would provide him an easement to connect a sewer line to the new concrete plant free of charge; Heemeyer just hung up.[8] Around this time, the buried concrete truck barrel that served as Heemeyer's sewage hole filled up. Heemeyer responded by pumping his sewage with a gasoline pump into the irrigation ditch that ran behind his property.[8] Heemeyer also attempted to illegally connect to a neighbor's sewer line, but was caught and the incident reported to the sanitation district. At this point, 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][8] Heemeyer was found in contempt of town code in November 2001 by the municipal court, and required to fix the connection issues before he could inhabit or use the property for business purposes again, as well as remove the truck barrel before July 2003. Heemeyer agreed before later that day rejecting it, and describing the requirements as a "form of terrorism". An attorney at the judgment reported Heemeyer muttering, "I'm just gonna bulldozer this whole place to the ground."
The bulldozer
Planning and construction
After the lawsuit against the town was dismissed in April 2002, Heemeyer blamed the failure on his lawyer and demanded a refund. Knowing the zoning decision was now final, he traveled to California, bought a Komatsu bulldozer in an auction for $16,000, and had it shipped to Granby in July 2002.[1][8] 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][8] In October 2002, he announced the closure of the muffler repair business, putting almost all of the inventory up for sale. When the bulldozer failed to sell, he saw it as a sign from God that he had to start his mission.[8] He sold his property for $400,000 (~10x the original purchase price) to The Trash Co. in October 2003 and took out a lease for half the building he previously owned until he had "finished some work".[8][1] Within a day of the purchase closing, the new owners had completed water and sewer connections.[8]
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, illegally constructing living quarters to avoid having to return to his home in Grand Lake, which he saw as a waste of time that could be spent on the dozer.[1][16] During this period, he dumped his sewage into the same irrigation ditch he had been caught dumping into several months earlier.[8]
"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]
During this period, Heemeyer repeatedly mentioned the bulldozer to friends and associates, as well as his intention to use it for destructive purposes.[8]
Motivation
A search of Heemeyer's house in Grand Lake, Colorado turned up plans for the bulldozer on his PC.[1]
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"[8]). The list also included various buildings, companies, judges, politicians, newspaper editors and anyone who sided against him in past disputes.[1][8][28] One entrant was the local Catholic Church (which he did not damage), due to their opposition to his attempts to legalize gambling, as well as theological differences as Heemeyer was a member of the Christian Reformed Church.[8]
Prior to the rampage, Heemeyer had scrawled a list of complaints onto an old "For Sale" sign, as well as scrap paper. These ranged from the Docheffs' unwillingness to pay the large sums he requested, the sanitation district's fining of him, and that the town had approved the plant construction. The other writings suggested that God had stopped the plant from being constructed in 1992, and alluded to a belief that God had caused the deaths of multiple people who had opposed him. Heemeyer further claimed that "I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable", adding that "Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things."[15][8]
In addition to these writings, 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 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]
Other statements included in the tapes make mention of Heemeyer's view that he was an "American Patriot", with local journalist Patrick Brower suggesting this may be indicative of links to the broader patriot movement.[8]