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The Buckner family, from a quiet, rural part of Missouri, turned out to be the tragic victim of one of the most horrific crimes in the state's history. On September 25, 1987, Steve and Jeanette Buckner, along with their four young children, were brutally murdered in their home by their very own relative, James Schnick, who was married to Steve's sister Julie.
Schnick initially tried to blame one of the Buckner children for the crimes but his story broke down pretty quickly, which ended up in his confession. This heinous event would be referred to by Investigation Discovery in the upcoming feature as The Heartland Massacre. The Heartland Massacre special is set to air on August 21, 10.00 PM EST.
The Buckner family massacre
In the early morning hours of September 25, 1987, James Schnick committed an unimaginable act. Armed with a rifle, he entered the home of his in-laws, Steve and Jeanette Buckner, and opened fire. Steve and Jeanette were killed on the spot, along with their children ages two through fourteen. The bloodbath did not stop there—Schnick killed his wife, Julie, at their nearby home.
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He tried to shift some of the guilt away from himself by blaming the murder of the Buckner family on his 14-year-old nephew, Kirk Buckner when the police arrived. According to him, he had shot Kirk in self-defense after seeing the murders. The investigators soon caught up with the inconsistencies of his story, and eventually, Schnick confessed to all seven murders.
The aftermath and legal proceedings
Following his confession, Schnick was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. Before the trial, though, the state dismissed four of those counts, and the case focused on only the murders of Julie Schnick and her two nephews, Kirk and Michael Buckner. The trial was a harrowing experience for the families involved, with the court hearing graphic details of the crimes.
James Schnick was initially sentenced to death for the triple murder but his sentence was commuted in 1992 to three consecutive life sentences. His attempts to appeal the decision were unsuccessful as he was behind bars for several decades at South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Missouri, until his death on December 31st, 2024.
According to sources, a spokesperson with the Missouri Department of Corrections has confirmed his death, although an autopsy is still pending.
The impact on the community
The Ekland murders sent shockwaves throughout the small, tight-knit community in Missouri and left residents grappling with a gruesome reality—that this was something that could happen within their circle. The Buckner family was very popular and likable to the community; therefore, the tragedy surrounding them brought even more devastation.
The case received wide coverage from local media, and it became a sad topic of discussion among the locals for years to come. The story of the Buckner family has not died down over the years, and neither has the impact this mass murder had on locals and beyond.
The murders in the Buckner family were documented in various true crime documentaries, books, and now in the upcoming Investigation Discovery special The Heartland Massacre. This latest feature is going to delve deeper into the case to highlight the psychological aspects of the crime and what it has done to this community for so long.
The massacre of the Buckner family is one of the most frightening and sad instances of familial violence in the history of Missouri. As The Heartland Massacre airs on Investigation Discovery, it will remind viewers of the horrors that unfolded back in 1987 to turn into a very sober reflection of dark complexities in human behavior.
