Shot Dead and Hands Severed: Who Was Grant County John Doe?

8 min readMay 2, 2023

One spring day in Kentucky, a farmer opens a barn door only to be met with a gruesome sight: it’s the body of a man, stripped of all clothing, with his hands completely severed. Almost 34 years later, his identity is still unknown. Who was this man? And who killed him?

On April 9, 1989 in Grant County, Kentucky, police were called to a tobacco barn off of Kentucky State Highway 22 (KY-22) around 7.5 miles west of Dry Ridge near Williamstown.

They discovered a man had been shot twice in the back of the head, execution-style, with a .22 caliber weapon. His clothing was missing, and his hands had been severed from the wrist down.

The lack of blood at the scene quickly told investigators that he was killed and dismembered outside of the barn at an unknown location. They estimated he had been deceased for approximately 2 weeks before his body was discovered.

Due to decomposition, the man’s face was almost unrecognizable, although a very rough sketch was done in 2009. Years later in 2016, police were able to obtain a digitally enhanced image of the man that had been created using technology provided by the National Missing and Unidentified Person System (NamUS), which can be seen at the top of this article.

Using forensic technology, scientists were able to determine that the man was between 25–35 years old, 6’5” tall, and around 220 pounds. He wore his hair in a medium-brown crew cut with short sideburns. Most sources say his eyes were brown, although another says they were blue. Because of this, it’s not necessarily productive to rule out any potential matches based on eye color.

There are, however, a few unique details about his appearance that might assist in his identification. On the FBI’s website, he is listed as having Plagiocephaly, also known as “flat head syndrome,” which affects the appearance of the back of the head. Placiocephaly is not known to cause any developmental delays or cognitive disabilities, and it is unknown how severely his appearance was affected by the syndrome.

The autopsy also found that he had a previously healed nasal fracture and a lot of work done on his teeth. This includes missing teeth that had been replaced by porcelain pontics, ten teeth with porcelain repairs, and porcelain fused to metal bridgework (PFM bridge). These adjustments would’ve been costly, indicating that the man was fairly well off financially.

Collaboration with The DNA Doe Project

In 2021, it was announced that the Kentucky State Police would be working with the DNA Doe Project, a volunteer organization that uses genetic genealogy to track down victims’ relatives who have uploaded their information into DNA databases.

The organization was able to raise $3,000 to pay for his exhumation and the the technology used to extract the victim’s DNA. According to police, volunteers were able to determine that the man had roots in Eastern Europe, as well as possible ancestors from the Middle East and England.

As of August 2021, the DNA matches were at the distant cousin level. There have been no futher public updates from the Doe Project since then. However, as more people continue to enter their information into these databases, the probability of finding closer relatives and thus his identity increases with time.

Daviess County Doe Theory

In online forums such as Reddit and WebSleuths, there is much speculation surrounding the case. One of these theories is that this case is connected to another case from 1990 in Kentucky.

This crime occurred on January 7th, 1990 in Daviess County, Kentucky, approximately 168 miles or a 3 hour drive from Grant County. The victim was a white male, 35–40 years old, 5’6”–5’7,” and around 125–140 pounds.

He was found nude in a sparsely wooded area, his face and body brutally beaten with a blunt instrument. The man had also been sexually assaulted, with investigators finding semen in or on his body.

Nonetheless, there are a few similarities between the cases that have piqued the interest of online sleuths. In addition to both crimes taking place in Kentucky, both Does were found shot in the head with a .22 caliber. While Grant County Doe had been shot twice in the back of the head, Daviess County Doe was shot six times in the head, arm and chest.

In both cases, the victims’ clothing had been removed. The murderer(s) of Daviess County Doe had also severed the man’s hands and feet in what’s assumed to also be an attempt to conceal the victim’s identity. He was beaten so badly that several of his teeth had been knocked out. In cases of murders tied to organized crime, it’s not uncommon for the killers to separately dispose of identifying features such as hands, clothing and teeth.

While there are definitely some similarities, upon closer inspection, these crimes seem to have been quite different in nature.

Daviess County John Doe had been sexually assaulted and severely beaten before his death to the point where his face was caved in and almost unrecognizable. This wasn’t the case in Grant County Doe’s murder. He wasn’t beaten, and no sexual assault had taken place. Instead, he was simply killed execution-style.

According to the Journal of Sexual Aggression, there are three main types of “sexual homicides.”

“Lust” or “Sadistic Murders,” where the perpetrator finds homicidal violence to be sexually arousing.
“Rape-murders,” where the main intention was to commit sexual assault and the killing was secondary to that.
“Catathymic” homicides, characterized by a displaced, explosive reaction towards a victim who has triggered the memory of a specific subject of their rage. (For example, from one blonde woman to all blonde women in general.)

Neither “lust murders” nor “rape-murders” seem to align with the Grant County John Doe’s killer(s) modus operandi. The fact that his body was moved from one location to the other suggests that the perpetrator(s) had some amount of privacy during the actual murder, giving them enough time to commit a sexual act on the victim if they wanted to. And yet, there was no semen found on the body and no evidence of sexual abuse.

If the murder was sexually motivated, a “catathymic homicide” is the most plausible. Both Does were white males believed to be in their late 20s or 30s. However, Daviess County Doe was significantly shorter than Grant County Doe — the former being 5’6”-5’7,” and the latter almost an entire foot taller at 6’5” — so this is unlikely to be the case.

Dixie Mafia Theory

Another theory that shows up over and over again is that this was the work of a criminal organization. Most of this speculation stems from the fact that he was shot execution-style, and because his hands and clothing were removed. As mentioned previously, the killer(s) having the foresight to remove these identifying features indicates planning and possibly even experience. Fingerprint technology was booming during the time, and the killer(s) had to have known this.

Because fingerprints are typically only taken from people who have been arrested, one must wonder if the victim himself had a criminal background.

There was a lot of wear and tear on his face, including the healed nasal fracture, which could’ve been the result of an altercation. Then, there’s the dental work.

Unlike porcelain veneers which are put over natural teeth, porcelain pontics are used to replace teeth completely, meaning those teeth were missing or so damaged that there was no other choice but to extract them completely. Could this too have been the result of a fight? And where did he get the money for such an expensive procedure?

The organization that often comes up in connection with this murder is the “Cornbread Mafia,” otherwise known as the “Dixie Mafia.” This is a criminal organization which operates in the Southeastern United States, having peaked between the late 60s to the late 80s.

Despite being made up of mostly white men, unlike most criminal organizations, this one is not associated with any race or ethnicity. Instead, the primary motive is making a profit off of controlling illegal operations such as gambling, prostitution, drug trafficking, fraud, and contract killing, among other activities.

The group became infamous for carrying out contract murders on its own members, specifically ones who testified or threatened to testify.

An interesting fact to consider is that the murder of Grant County Doe was carried out 2 months before a major bust in Kentucky in June of 1989 which saw 70 men arrested in relation to a marijuana trafficking ring. While it’s practically impossible that he was working with police as they would’ve recognized him by now, is it possible John Doe threatened to turn someone in?

Then, there’s the manner in which he was killed — execution style, also known as a gangland-style murder. As the name suggests, these types of murders are very common in criminal organizations, and there are many examples of this method being used in Dixie Mafia history.

For example, one of the gang’s most notable members, Kirksey McCord Nix Jr., was a suspect in the 1967 gangland-style murder of a gambler named Harry Bennett, a man about to turn in evidence against several members of the organization. There are many other examples of the Dixie Mafia carrying out these types of killings, including the murder of a court judge and his wife in 1987.

Another point to consider is the man’s size. At 6’5” and 220 pounds, it would’ve been extremely difficult for just one person to move such a large body once he was deceased, let alone subdue him while he was still alive. This could very likely indicate that more than one person was involved in the crime.

With contract killings being a major part of the Dixie Mafia, it would’ve been easy for someone who wanted him dead to recruit other members of the organization to carry out the murder.

Another odd part about this case is that the killer(s) moved him to a tobacco barn instead of disposing of or hiding the body like they did with his hands, almost as if they wanted him to be found. If this was gang related, it’s possible that the perpetrator(s) were trying to send a message.

Although the Dixie Mafia theory is compelling, this is all purely speculation — nothing can be proven until the mystery of John Doe’s identity is solved.

Contact Information

If you have any information regarding the murder of Grant County John Doe, please contact the Kentucky State Police Post 6 at (859) 428–1212. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call the Greater Cincinnati / N. Kentucky Crime Stoppers at (513) 352–3040 or submit a tip at p3tips.com

Sources:

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/unidentified-persons/john-doe---grant-county-kentucky

https://www.grantky.com/content/ksp-hopes-id-victim-through-dna-doe-project

https://dnadoeproject.org/case/grant-co-john-doe-1989/

https://www.fox19.com/2021/04/08/ksp-working-identify-year-old-case-man-found-without-hands/

https://www.wtvq.com/ksp-hopes-dna-doe-project-helps-solve-grant-county-cold-case/

https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article253476924.html

https://www.thetimesclock.com/news/08/2021/man-found-in-ky-barn-32-years-ago-was-shot-had-his-hands-cut-off-can-you-id-him/

https://www.wkyt.com/2021/10/04/wkyt-investigates-volunteer-forensic-genealogists-try-crack-kentucky-cold-case/

https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/86

https://www.wcpo.com/news/crime/kentucky-state-police-partners-with-dna-doe-project-to-identify-victim-in-grant-county-cold-case

https://www.reddit.com/r/gratefuldoe/comments/95jfnp/grant_county_kentucky_john_doe/