Man Jailed 30 Years For Destroying Entire Town Might Actually Be Innocent

James resided in Quincy, Illinois, for as long as he could remember, just two miles from the Mississippi River. The ex-con lived simply, holding down a part-time janitorial job at nearby Burger King. Meanwhile, James’ wife Suzie worked at a truck stop.

Though James was known to be a party animal, he decided to volunteer his time to help with levee relief efforts. While Suzie went to work one day, James put on some hefty waders and entered the river between the Bayview Bridge and the Quincy Memorial Bridge.

He walked along the levee after being instructed to duct tape any holes in the tarps that were tossed over sandbags. According to James, he was partnered with a stranger, thought to be named Rudy, for the task. They inspected the levee heading north.

James spotted an area where water slipped through the tarp. Thinking quickly, James grabbed four sandbags from a stronger part of the levee and moved them to the weakened area. He thought nothing of it; he was just trying to help.

The duo soon ran into Duke Kelly of the Illinois National Guard. James notified him of the leak, but Kelly relayed that he was more concerned about the south side of the bridge, where his men were stationed. He’d contact someone if the weak point worsened.

Everything seemed fine all throughout dusk; the river was even receding. But at 8:20 PM, water burst through the levee. It just wasn’t strong enough, and midwesterners everywhere would suffer the consequences.

An inch-wide slit ripped open, sending river water cascading across adjacent farmland. A drifting barge even hit an Ayerco gas station, which created a calamitous explosion and an oil slick that ignited a fire on the water’s surface. It was a horror show.

Thankfully, there was not a soul living in that area of West Quincy, so no one was harmed. But the rebuilding project ahead would cost heaps of time and money. Not only that, but vital bridges that connected Missouri and Illinois were closed down for days.

When James was approached by a Quincy news reporter, he commented on his grand efforts patrolling the levee. He mentioned moving the sandbags after discovering the weakened area. James agreed to once again make a news appearance, this time on a live primetime broadcast.

This was when things changed for the ex-con. See, Quincy Police Department’s Sergeant Neal Baker was watching the 10:00 PM news from the comfort of his home, and he perked up when he saw James’ face. Sergeant Baker knew that face all too well.

Sergeant Baker arrested James and threw him in jail circa 1988 after he set fire to a garage. And in 1982, when James was just 12 years old, he and his brother burned down an elementary school.

It was hard for Sergeant Baker to witness this version of James, boasting about his good Samaritan acts. It seemed fishy, as Sergeant Baker only knew him as a rough-around-the-edges delinquent. Plus, not everything James blabbed about to reporters seemed legitimate.

James wasn’t covered in dirt or mud, nor was he donning the required life jacket. He seemed to be fuzzy on details regarding names and timelines, too. In Sergeant Baker’s eyes, the details weren’t adding up.

Baker and his detective brother went down to the local Burger King to pay James a visit. Since the janitor was already a suspect in a burglary, not to mention four other crimes in Quincy, they promptly arrested him and brought him in for questioning.

A surprised James denied all allegations, insisting he hadn’t committed a crime in five years. When the sergeant and detective asked James about the levee, he told them the same thing he had told reporters.

Since the Baker brothers had no real motive, they reluctantly had to let James go. They felt no sense of ease or relief after the interrogation. In fact, Sergeant Baker started building a case against James.

While building his case, Sergeant Baker met a man named Joe Flachs. Joe was an acquaintance of James, and he, too, was a troubled man under house arrest. According to Joe, James admitted at a party that he planned to vandalize the levee.

Joe explained that James also intended to go on a bender and cheat on Suzie while in Illinois. Sergeant Baker’s eyes lit up; he had real motive, and boy was Joe’s dishing scandalous. With that juicy testimony and James’ past charges, his upcoming trial gained national attention.

Throughout the midst of James’ three-day trial, many witnesses testified that Scott had gloated about his arson skills, which didn’t look too cute. Not only that, but the buffoon allegedly mentioned that he enjoyed watching property damage happen.

Eventually, after four hours of debating, the jury made a decision. James, a repeat offender, was sentenced to a maximum of life in prison. He appealed, and due to scheduling issues with his lawyer, he was granted a retrial in 1997. It didn’t go well.

James Scott currently resides at the Missouri Department of Corrections in Jefferson City, where he’s serving a life sentence. James, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2012 (and is now in remission), won’t be eligible for parole until 2023; he’ll be 53 years old by then.

Journalist Adam Pitluk wrote about James’ story in his book, Damned to Eternity: The Story of the Man Who They Said Caused the Flood. He covered James’ unfortunate tale from 1997 to 2007.

“As a journalist and as a writer, it’s a great story. As an American and as a citizen, it’s a total miscarriage of justice,” Adam said. Clearly, he stands with James, the only person ever convicted of Missouri’s 1979 law for “Intentionally Causing a Catastrophe.”

“The prosecution did a much better job making the circumstantial evidence seem solid — because that’s all it was. But the thing you have to look at is the science. This levee was broken by science,” Adam continued.

Apparently, the people in the affected region never expected there to be a flood, for some oddball reason. “The only way you can be made whole again is with insurance. And no one had it,” stated Adam.

“But if the levee was sabotaged, that’s now an act of vandalism and not an act of God. So the $1 billion dollars paid out of insurance can be collected,” he continued. He saw James’ sentencing to be all too strategic.

Pitluk tried talking with Suzie Scott about James’ adverse situation, but was essentially shooed away. She claimed to be stressed and wildly busy raising their son, who was seven years old at the time. Adam respected that.

Whether James let his inner saboteur get the best of him, or he’s simply a wrongfully convicted man who was trying to make up for his past sins, we may never know the truth. His case could connect with another man who claimed a wrongful conviction.