In a shocking turn of events, the once-quiet neighborhood of downtown Keokuk was rocked by a brutal double homicide that took place late Sunday night at a rooming house formerly known as the Hawkeye Hotel. Willard Charles “Bill” Woodring, 42, and Richard B. Buchanan, 49, were found shot dead in what authorities are investigating as a robbery gone horribly wrong.
Woodring, who owned the rooming house and had a checkered past with the law, was reportedly entertaining Buchanan, a service station owner from Colona, Illinois, when the incident occurred. According to eyewitness accounts from Betty Andrews, a 22-year-old resident of the house and Woodring’s alleged fiancée, two individuals entered the building under the pretense of knowing Woodring. Andrews described the male suspect as a young man in a black leather jacket, accompanied by a woman in a lavender dress.
Once inside, the male suspect brandished a .38 caliber pistol, forcing Woodring, Buchanan, and Andrews into the kitchen and binding them. During the chaos, the robber demanded to know where Woodring kept his money. While the couple searched for cash, Woodring managed to free himself and attempted to confront the assailant. In a tragic turn, both men were shot in the back of the head at close range as they tried to escape.
The robbery yielded only $200, but law enforcement later discovered that Woodring had more cash on him and in a strongbox within the house. In a further twist, police found $45,000 in cash hidden in Woodring’s pink Cadillac.
As rumors of organized crime connections swirled in the community, Keokuk Police Chief George Jones dismissed these claims, stating the crime did not fit the typical patterns of a syndicate killing. The investigation, supported by the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation, has faced challenges, with no fingerprints or clear leads on the suspects.
The three other women living in the house at the time—Dorothy Madison, Barbara Sullivan, and Jean Lee—have been charged with “inhabiting a disorderly house” and are currently awaiting further legal proceedings.
Authorities are actively searching for the suspects, but Chief Jones expressed concern as the trail grows increasingly cold. The Keokuk community is left reeling from this violent incident, grappling with questions of safety and the dark realities that can lurk behind closed doors.
