Midland, South Dakota

From the October 5, 2006 Pierre, South Dakota Capital Journal:

MIDLAND - An August shooting in the rural community of Midland was ruled a justifiable homicide by a Haakon County Grand Jury Wednesday, meaning Dallas McKinley Sr. will not be charged with the death of a Rapid City man.

A justifiable homicide is defined as a situation in which a person is defending himself or other persons, inevitably causing the death of another.

The grand jury heard the testimony of 11 witnesses over a period of

several hours and declined to return an indictment, according to the Haakon County State's Attorney's office.

According to a press release from Haakon County State's Attorney Chip Kemnitz, the evidence showed that Harold Lee Cleveland, the 64-year-old man who died, announced that he was going to Midland, intended to commit suicide and that others would die too.

Cleveland apparently entered the Midland home of C.E. and Arlene McKinley on Aug. 12, and "made it clear his intention was to kill them."

The press release stated that Cleveland held the elderly couple hostage at gunpoint for approximately one hour, during which the woman was secretly able to phone her son, Dallas McKinley, who then called 911.

"An adept Pennington County dispatcher confirmed the 911 call by a call to the couple's residence and successfully kept a conversation going through the ordeal by carefully instructing the 86-year-old woman to disguise her responses with yes or no answers and to interject mundane comments, pretending an innocuous conversation with the telephone company or a friend," the release said.

Local law enforcement and South Dakota Highway Patrol units were dispatched to the home, but Cleveland abruptly left the residence before officers had reached their assigned positions, at which time, Dallas McKinley Sr. entered the home from a back entrance and moved his parents to safety.

According to Kemnitz's office, "The victim was then observed to re-enter the residence, again before officers were in a position to stop him, whereupon an armed confrontation between the victim and the couple's son occurred, which resulted in the victim's death."

An anonymous source connected to the victim told the Capital Journal, immediately after the incident occurred, that Cleveland may have gone to the McKinley home for revenge over an investment dispute dating back to the 1980s.

The release from Kemnitz's office confirmed that the only apparent motive for the victim's actions appears to be a financial loss suffered by the victim 15 to 20 years ago in a fraudulent investment transaction managed by another of the victim's sons, not involved in the incident.