But I thought Well OK, weve got insurance. We did. In places, this armor was over 1 foot (30cm) thick, consisting of 5,000psi (34MPa) Quikrete concrete mix sandwiched between sheets of tool steel (acquired from an automotive dealer in Denver), to make ad-hoc composite armor. Among anti-government types, he is seen as an inspiration even sparking a robust merch business. Just not enough.. This is the shocking true story of Marvin Heemeyers revenge. As well, the sheriff notes that 11 of the 13 buildings that Heemeyer bulldozed were occupied until just moments before the destruction. [2], At this point, local authorities and the Colorado State Patrol feared they were running out of options in terms of firepower, and that Heemeyer would soon turn against civilians in Granby. Heemeyer had moved to a town outside of Granby in the fall of 1991 and was running a muffler shop he had opened in Granby years earlier. [5], Later, Heemeyer fired on two state patrol officers before they had fired at him. On June 4th, 2004 Marvin John Heemeyer went on a justified rampage in Granby, Colorado, and became a martyr for all who are sick of being exploited by hypocr. Granby has been rebuilt, including a new town hall. Then he tried to get an easement for a sewer line. Photos and Memories(2) The investigation also revealed that he hadn't planned to come out of it alive. Heemeyer was furious, as hed used the land for the past nine years as a shortcut between his home and his shop. If you enjoyed this blog post, check out my mystery/crime/thriller novel The Missing. He attempted to tell events chronologically leading up to 2004, but he often jumped around in his storytelling as he remembered or failed to remember key events of his tale. The notes indicated Heemeyer held grudges over the zoning approval. Its a literal miracle that no one was injured or killed by Heemeyer. "Once he tipped that lid shut, he knew he wasn't getting out", Daly said. Perhaps the most revealing note that he left behind was this one: I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable. Its not my fault. Heemeyer's rampage concluded with his suicide, after his bulldozer became trapped in the basement of a hardware store he had been in the process of destroying. Heemeyer had no intention of leaving the cabin once he entered; the hatch was permanently sealed. The Denver Post. Equipped with a 410hp engine, Heemeyer, sometimes moving as fast as 7mph, smashed over and over into the concrete plant. [20] 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. After two hours and seven minutes, Heemeyer had bulldozed every business or home that had some connection to his case against the zoning committee. For anyone who has read much of my blog, you can perhaps guess where I fall decidedly in the second camp of Heemeyer being a deranged, vengeful terrorist. 4 4 tape 2 side b 31:17. At the town library, for example, a children's program was in progress when the incident began. [citation needed], On April 19, 2005, it was announced that Heemeyer's bulldozer was being taken apart for scrap metal. [2], One officer dropped a flash-bang grenade down the bulldozer's exhaust pipe, with no immediate apparent effect. Since then, members of the State Patrol revealed that to the contrary, the governor did consider authorizing an attack but ultimately decided against it due to the potential for collateral damage of a missile strike in the heart of Granby being significantly higher than what Heemeyer could have caused with his bulldozer. "The idea somehow that Marv didn't want to hurt anybody is absolutely absurd," Brower says. I endured the roughly 2 1/2 hours of his recorded ramblings. Tread: Directed by Paul Solet. ", Investigators later found Heemeyer's handwritten list of targets. The Killdozer Rampage. Marvin Heemeyer built a weapon to | by Josie Attempts to disable the bulldozer's cameras with gunfire failed as the bullets were unable to penetrate the 3-inch bullet-resistant plastic. Its in Gods hands. Required fields are marked *. Three external explosions and more than 200 rounds of ammunition fired at the bulldozer had no effect on it. A few years earlier, he had purchased a bulldozer with the intention of using it to create an alternative route to his muffler shop. Much obliged. [13] Despite the great damage to property, no one besides Heemeyer was killed. This material may not be reproduced without permission. If you want to see the grandeur of the Rockies, any time of the year, and want to get away from the crowds, going through Granby would not be out of the question. [13], "Had these tanks ruptured and exploded, anyone within one-half mile (800m) of the explosion could have been endangered", the sheriff's department said. Denver is less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the south. [4], In 1992, Heemeyer purchased 2 acres (0.8ha) 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. Now do you have the courage to stand up. Marvin Heemeyer Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family But here's where the story gets weird (as if it isn't weird already). June 5, 2004. And they claim that was intentional on his part that he only meant to send a message, not hurt anyone. The tapes are about 2.5 hours in length. [5] There might have been casualties if local emergency response hadn't worked so effectively. Marvin John "Killdozer" Heemeyer (1951-2004) - Find a Grave Heemeyer also speaks frequently about God that God prepared him for this task; that perhaps even God planned it before he was born. The final tape is unintelligible due to very poor audio quality. .50 caliber rifle, a .308 caliber semi-automatic rifle, and a .22 caliber rifle, all fitted with a one-half-inch-thick (1.3cm) steel plate. He built a tank, leveled a good portion of a previously quiet small town in the Rocky Mountains with it, then immediately gained a measure of fame because of it, and almost as immediately met an inglorious end. He perpetually saw himself as a victim and as the townsfolk of being deserving of his revenge: Basically what all this is going to prove when its all over with is that meddling in your neighbors business is destructiveits going to come back to haunt you. Granby slapped him with $2500 in fines. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. [citation needed], Two problems arose as Heemeyer destroyed the Gambles hardware store. In his tapes, he suggested that the city allowed the concrete plant to be built near a hotel so that the dust from the concrete would blow towards the hotel and drive visitors away. [5] The sheriff's department also noted that eleven of the thirteen buildings Heemeyer bulldozed were occupied until moments before their destruction. However, Heemeyer was armed, fired at propane tanks, and destroyed buildings that were occupied in the moments before the attack. In addition to writings that he left on the wall of his shed, Heemeyer recorded a number of audio tapes explaining his motivation for the attack. He joined the Air Force in 1971, during which time he had his first introduction to the state of Colorado while stationed there. He frequently used the phrases I believe with all my heart and Im convinced as he talked about conclusions he had reached. Granby PD initiated a reverse 911 distress call warning residents of Heemeyers attack. Was Marvin Heemeyer a hero? [1] Onboard fans and an air conditioner were used to keep Heemeyer cool while driving and compressed air nozzles were fitted to blow dust away from the video cameras. Over a period of 90 minutes, police watched helplessly as Heemeyer proved unstoppable. Instead, he locked himself in a garage for a year secretly building a tank, thinking he was on a mission from God to level his town. In total, he did about $7 million worth of damage. He did $7 million dollars in damage. God has asked me to do this. Marvin Heemeyer was born on October 28, 1951, in South Dakota and lived in Grand Lake, Colorado, about 16 miles (26km) away from Granby. One mother recalled speeding away with the sound of gunshots ringing out, while her kids huddled crying in the floorboard of their car.1 And 11 out of the 13 buildings Heemeyer plowed through were occupied at the time including the library that was full of children. Not only did Heemeyer level buildings and crush cars, but he fired indiscriminately at police thankfully missing. Outraged over the outcome of a zoning dispute, he armored a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with layers of steel and concrete and used it on June 4, 2004, to demolish the town hall, the former mayor's house, and other buildings in Granby, Colorado. Indeed, in the years after the rampage, Heemeyer became a controversial folk hero in certain circles, with some believing that he was a victim of a town government that didnt think twice about hurting a local business. It's interesting how everyone lost. It all boiled down to whether you agreed with him or not. Im going to get ahead. Heemeyer's brother Ken stated that he "would bend over backwards for anyone". This Man Barely Escaped Killdozer's Path. Now He's Written A Book About Grand Lakers remember Marvin Heeymer as a neighbor [2][5], One officer dropped a flash-bang grenade down the bulldozer's exhaust pipe, with no apparent effect. God has asked me to do this. A ton of videos of that day, too, are available online, many of them containing archival news footage of the rampage. Until his unexpected and fortunate end, Heemeyer seemed hell-bent on destroying the entire town. Heemeyer complained to the town council about neighboring businesses, lashed out at other land and business owners, and generally railed at anyone who he felt was trying to take advantage of him. He paid the fine, writing the word cowards on the memo line of his check. However, some of Heemeyer's other victims are harder to justify. Take on what happen and why. A hero for our troubled times. Despite the great damage to property, no one besides Heemeyer was killed. On June 4, 2004, frustrated over a failed zoning dispute, Heemeyer plowed his homemade armored bulldozer into the town hall, a former mayor's home and other buildings in small-town Granby, Colorado. Heemeyer's homemade tank also had two gunports which he allegedly used to shoot at power transformers and propane tanks: Meanwhile, early defenders of Heemeyer contended he made a point of not hurting anybody during his bulldozer rampage. The bulldozer's engine failed, and Heemeyer dropped a tread into the store's basement and could not get out. He destroyed a library, which was connected to the town hall, and the former home of Mayor L.R. ", http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/archive/oldnews5/rampages.htm, http://extras.denverpost.com/slideshows/dozer_slideshow.html, "Newly released audiotapes detail reasons for Granby bulldozer rampage", http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=49366, "Man Who Bulldozed Granby Says He Got Idea From God", http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/3697785/detail.html, "7NEWS Looks Inside Granby Work Shed Where 'Dozer Was Outfitted", http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/3394824/detail.html, Discovery Channel Destroyed in Seconds video, Site detailing Marvin Heemeyer's dispute with City Hall, Granby Damage, includes several pictures of the incident, Articles needing clarification from June 2015, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2014, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2014, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, Bulldozers with powerplants larger than 500kW, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I knew, right away, I said, 'I'm on the wrong side of this story,'" says Brower, who had been covering Heemeyer's interactions with the town government for years and had met with him to hear out his beef against the paper. This sparked terror among the communitys 1500 residents. Perhaps the most unique feature of his Killdozer was its lack of an entrance/exit. [7], The machine used in the incident was a Komatsu D355A bulldozer[8] fitted with makeshift armor plating covering the cabin, engine and parts of the tracks. Marvin Heemeyer after he moved to Colorado. Heemeyer rammed the 20-cubic-yard blade of his "MK Tank" into several town buildings, including the municipal center. And as the saying goes the love of money is the root of all evil.3. He subsequently agreed to sell the land to Cody Docheff to build a concrete batch plant, Mountain Park Concrete, for $250,000. Your email address will not be published. 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. With no distance to gain speed to push the grader aside as before, Heemeyer was forced to plow ahead.