Wednesday, August 18, 1999
Troubled son's letters gave warning
Wounds parents, then kills self
BY PATRICK CROWLEY and SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Family portrait shows Paul and Diane Smith, center, and daughters Amanda, left, and Megan.
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EDGEWOOD — Kevin Paul Smith all but foretold shooting his parents and killing himself in two chilling letters, including one he wrote less than three weeks ago.
“I have every thought from killing myself to crashing in in the middle of the night and begging you ... to talk to me,” Mr. Smith, 30, wrote to his parents, Paul and Diane Smith, whom he shot Tuesday morning in their Edgewood home.
“I know you feel safe exploiting the (restraining orders) but it's not the same as having a guard stay in your bedroom at night,” Kevin Smith said. “I feel like if I did show up and try to talk ... you would not take me seriously unless I had a gun or something.”
Kevin Paul Smith violated a court restraining order by entering his parents' home Tuesday morning, critically shooting his father, a Fidelity Investments executive, and wounding his mother before fatally shooting himself.
Court records tell the story of an estranged son who had undergone psychiatric treatment, had a history of violent behavior and was ordered by a judge to stay away from the family he had threatened.
The letters were included in Kenton County court documents involving domestic vio lent complaints and requests for protective orders filed against Kevin Smith by his parents and his 19-year-old sister, Amanda. The younger child was not named in the complaint.
“(I'm) trying to warn you only this once,” Kevin Smith wrote in a July 25 letter, which his parents had turned over to police.
“I promise you will feel foolish when I give up. I don't want a bad ending to my life but I or any human can only be dealt so many plates of (excrement) be fore they can't take it anymore.
Paul Smith suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was in critical condition Tuesday night at University Hospital. His son was dead when Edgewood Police arrived around 7 a.m. Tuesday at the Smith residence, a two-story red brick with green shutters on Garden Way, in an upscale Edgewood subdivision.
The son had shot himself in the head with the 9mm Smith & Wesson gun that he also used on his parents.
Kevin Smith's body was found halfway up a stairwell, Edgewood Sgt. Tom Niehaus said.
Paul Smith, who is known for his civic and professional activities, was collapsed at the stairwell's top, which is just outside his bedroom. He was shot several times.
Mr. Smith was flown by helicopter to University Hospital, where he underwent surgery. His teen-age daughters, Amanda and Megan, were by his side later in the day.
Their mother, Diane, apparently insisted on that. Concerned neighbors who followed her to the hospital said she was heavily sedated but stressed that her daughters must stay by their father's side. She suffered a gunshot wound to her right leg and was in fair condition Tuesday at St. Elizabeth South in Edgewood.
Only Amanda, a 1998 graduate of Scott High School, was at home when the shooting happened. She was not injured.
Court records show that Kevin Smith had spent time this year under going psychiatric treatment at St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Eastern State mental hospital in Lexington.
The records also show that Paul and Amanda Smith described their son as a manic depressive.
A permanent restraining order was granted June 2 in Kenton District Court after his parents and sister filed complaints against him because of an April 25 incident at the family's home.
A violent incident
Kevin Smith threw items at his father, punched a hole in the garage door and had a physical confrontation with his youngest sister Megan, a student at Scott High School, records show. He also left threatening letters and voice mail messages for his parents.
On July 28, police were called to the Smiths' home after Kevin Smith apparently broke in and set off an alarm. He told police he had forgotten his key. But rather than having him put in jail for violating the restraining order, the Smiths requested that he receive psychiatric treatment, Kenton District Judge Martin Sheehan say.
Kevin Smith also had other problems with the law.
In 1996, he was convicted of two counts of assault after getting into an argument with a security officer at Fidelity's Covington office campus, where is father is general site manager, and struck the officer with his car.
He was sentenced to six months in jail, but avoided serving the sentence by agreeing to complete an anger management program, court records show.
Mr. Smith had talked about some of the family's problems with Kevin, friends and co-workers say.
“Paul had talked about some troubles he had over the years with his son, but he also talked about and spent a lot of time with his other children,” said Jeff Eger, the manager of the Sanitation District No. 1 and a friend of Mr. Smith's.
Their daughters played soccer together at Scott High School, Mr. Eger said. Just last Friday he ran into Mr. Smith at breakfast and Mr. Smith, an avid tennis player, said how excited he was about having tickets to last weekend's ATP tennis tournament in Mason.
Community leader
Well-known for his civic endeavors, Mr. Smith serves as a board member of Forward Quest, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Tri-County Economic Development Corp., St. Elizabeth Medical Center Foundation, Thomas More College, Playhouse in the Park, Metropolitan Growth Alliance and the United Way of Northern Kentucky.
He also dabbles in politics, supporting some candidates with campaign contributions and attending political functions. Earlier this year, Gov. Paul Patton appointed him to a task force on early childhood development in Kentucky.
“Paul gives so much to the community. He is one of those people who gives his time but doesn't do it for his own gain. He does it because he adopted and loves this community and he wanted to make it better,” Mr. Eger said.
Fidelity spokesman Kevin Canafax said workers at the Boston-based mutual fund company's midwest headquarters in Covington were shocked to hear about the shooting.
“Paul is much beloved here at Fidelity and in the community,” said Mr. Canafax, who is close to Mr. Smith both professionally and personally. “People just can't believe it. Paul is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.”
Several police calls
After the family moved to Northern Kentucky from North Carolina seven years ago, Kevin Smith lived with them on and off over the years and was kicked out of the Smiths' residence about a year ago. He apparently moved east, living in New York and possibly New Jersey, court records indicate.
Sgt. Niehaus said police have responded to the house several times within the past year because of arguments between Mr. Smith and his son. But police never witnessed any weapons or signs of violence upon arrival, the sergeant said.
They do not know where Kevin Smith has been living or whether he had been working anywhere. He seems to have arrived at the house in a rental car - a white Dodge Neon with Illinois plates - that was in the driveway after the shooting.
A neighbor said he saw the car travel back and forth in front of the Smith residence early Tuesday morning before the shooting happened.
Neighbors said they knew that Kevin Smith was troubled and that there was friction between the father and son. But the father never talked about it and the neighbors didn't feel it was their right to pry.
Chris and Coleen Klensch occasionally socialized with the Smiths. They remembered that Kevin was with the couple when they came over for Julie Klensch's First Communion party. They remember that he was quiet and a bit shy.
Kevin “was just different. I wouldn't say he was a bad person,” said Mr. Klensch, noting that he never would've thought the younger man capable of shooting his father. He didn't want to comment on the son any further.
“Right now, our prayers are for Paul and the rest of the family,” he said.
Shelley Stephens also had the Smiths in her prayers. She noted that the couple had tried everything they could to help Kevin, including letting him live with them and helping start out in other cities.
“It's two people that did everything for a child,” she said. “What can you do?”
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