State says it was taking too much child support from shooter

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/14429275.htm

ST. LOUIS - A clerical error caused the state to assess a man who went on a
shooting rampage last week five times more per month in child support than
he actually owed, state officials acknowledged.

Herbert L. Chalmers, who shot four people to death before killing himself
last week, told a sometime girlfriend he raped during the rampage that he
was upset about his child support obligations. One of the victims was the
mother of some of his children.

An error in data entry, made when more than 400,000 child support files were
converted to a new computer database in 1998, increased Chalmers' monthly
child support more than fivefold, said Deborah Scott, spokeswoman for the
Missouri Department of Social Services.

But Scott also stressed that Chalmers had many opportunities to correct the
error since 1998.

After Chalmers, 54, contacted the department once this year about the amount
he owed, an employee tried five times to contact him without success, she
said.

"Rape and murder are not rational responses to resolving one's concerns over
child support obligations," Scott told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

On April 18, when Chalmers went on his rampage, the department was
garnisheeing 50 percent of his paycheck - the state's top limit - for back
support, Scott said.

Despite the monthly assessment mistake, Scott insisted that the total amount
the state collected from Chalmers did not exceed what he owed.

Scott said an investigation into the error is in progress.

Carol D. Moore, 35, was found dead in the apartment of an acquaintance of
Chalmers'. Her connection to Chalmers or the apartment's resident is still
unclear.

After raping Sandra Stamps, 44, Chalmers shot and killed Sylvia Haynes, 53,
his ex-girlfriend and the mother of three children in the child support
case.

Then, he went to Finninger's Catering Service, where his wages had been
garnisheed for child support, and fatally shot co-owner Cleo Finninger, 79,
and her daughter, Christine Politte, 44. He severely wounded Patricia Ann
Meier, 48, and then killed himself.

In 1997, Chalmers was supposed to be paying $133 per month in current child
support and owed $724.92 in back support.

Records, including Chalmers' file, were converted into the Missouri
Automated Child Support System in 1998. Scott said the department knew there
were some problems with the conversion, and said workers made "significant
attempts" to ensure accuracy.

At some point, a worker spotted the $724.92 back child support figure for
Chalmers and entered it as the amount he was to pay per month for current
child support, Scott said.

The social services agency has refused requests for copies of Chalmers'
files, citing confidentiality laws. Scott and Harry Williams, director of
the department's legal services division, would not comment Tuesday on
matters not in court files that were already obtained by the Post-Dispatch.

No information was available in those files about payments Chalmers may have
made since 1997.

In an Aug. 16, 2000, letter, a child support investigator in St. Louis notes
a discrepancy. "There is a differant (sic) amount . . . effective 10-03-97
for which there is no court order or number in the case record," the letter
says.

What happened about the letter is not clear.


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