Mourners Ask U.S. to Heed Farm Tragedy

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Hundreds of weeping mourners attended the funeral of banker John Hughes today, with clergy and family members pleading for the government to remember the shot fired by a despondent farmer that killed him.

More than 1,500 people, including hundreds of farmers who did business with Hughes at the Hills Bank and Trust Co., packed St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Iowa City for the rites--many arriving more than an hour before the services began.

Hughes was shot to death by Dale Burr, 63, of rural Lone Tree, who barged into Hughes’ office with a shotgun Monday after a teller refused to cash a check on Burr’s overdrawn account.

Burr, struggling to keep his 500-acre farm afloat under debts of $800,000, also killed his wife and neighbor Richard Goody before killing himself.

Sheriff’s officials said Burr left only a brief note, indicating the stress he was under because of his huge farming debts. Authorities said Tuesday that a land dispute with Goody and the bank’s refusal to cash a check Burr had written on his overdrawn account apparently were the last straws.

Mourners wept as attorney Robert Downer, a close friend and business associate of Hughes, described the slain banker as a “true professional.”