The following is the text of an article originally published in the Kansas City Star, but since made unavailable for online viewing. The article is the initial story of the murder-suicide of the daughter of evangelist Tom Sooter by his wife, Mary Lee Sooter.

Tom Sooter is now a member of Donald Trump’s Iowa Faith Leader Coalition, working to help elect Trump President of the United States in the 2024 election.

Police think woman killed daughter, self Pastor's wife
apparently upset by daughter's plans

November 4, 2000

By Bill Graham

A Northland pastor's wife shot her daughter to death and then took her own life with the same gun, police said Friday.

The shooting occurred Thursday (Nov 2, 2000) in the parsonage of the Rev.
Tom Sooter on the grounds of Eagle Heights Baptist Church and Christian School, 5600 N. Brighton Ave. in Kansas City, North.

Mary Lee Sooter, 56, apparently was upset that her daughter, Jenny Sooter, 24, planned to leave the church and move out of her parents' home, said Detective Andrew Dorothy of the Kansas City Police Department.

"I'm in total unbelief," said the Rev. Carl D. Herbster, a family friend who oversees a similar conservative Baptist church in Independence. "This would have been the farthest thing from my mind. It's not something that I could even have dreamed would happen. This will be devastating to the congregation."

Jenny Sooter had worked for just over a week as a receptionist at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, North, according to a statement issued by the seminary. "She was a valued employee and will be greatly missed," communications director Tammi Reed Ledbetter said in the statement.

Police were called to the home about 8 a.m. Thursday when people staying in a nearby cottage heard gunshots. Both women were found in a downstairs hallway, Dorothy said. Jenny Sooter had multiple gunshot wounds from a .38 caliber revolver, he said. Mary Lee Sooter died of a single gunshot wound to the head. The gun had apparently been in the home for a long time. It was unclear whether the gun had been a service revolver used by Tom Sooter, a former Kansas City police officer.

Jenny Sooter had written a note to a church deacon explaining that she was leaving the church, Dorothy said. It was found in the home in a sealed envelope. The detective said he could not recall whether any reasons for leaving were given in the note. Sooter had also packed some of her belongings in boxes in her room as if she had been preparing for a move.

Police found Scripture passages written in notes near Mary Lee Sooter's bed along with references to her daughter. "Her mom had Scriptures written out beside her bed, and she talked (in the written notes) about how she didn't like the rebelliousness of her daughter," Dorothy said.

Police did not know whether problems had been ongoing or were new, he said. Herbster said that he had met with Tom Sooter on Friday and that the pastor was aware of the general police findings. He was not aware that his daughter had planned to leave the church or his home, Herbster said. His wife had recently mentioned some concerns about their daughter, Herbster said. "But there was nothing in her behavior that would have been forewarning about anything like this," Herbster said. "(Tom Sooter) is numb, shocked, trying to sort through all this. My hope is that something else would turn up so it's not what it appears to be."

Eagle Heights Baptist Church, which is in the Ravenwood neighborhood, is an independent, evangelical congregation of about 400. Herbster helped found the church more than 20 years ago. He is serving as a Sooter family spokesman and temporarily assuming the minister's role at the church.

Tom Sooter had already left the home and walked to the adjacent church Thursday when the shootings occurred. He was eliminated as a suspect, Dorothy said.
The Jackson County medical examiner's office conducted an autopsy of the bodies Thursday. Results were not available Friday.

Dorothy said the case would be submitted to the Clay County prosecutor's office as a homicide of Jenny Sooter followed by the suicide of the suspect, Mary Lee Sooter.

"This is horrible," Herbster said. "This is a pastor's wife who has been very close and caring to a flock. It's going to be hard for anyone to believe she could do anything like this." Herbster said the family would have no public comment until after the funerals.

The funerals for both women will be Sunday at the church. A visitation for family and friends will be from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Services will follow at 2:30 p.m. Burial will be at Mount Moriah Terrace Park Cemetery at U.S. 169 and Northwest 108th Street in Kansas City, North.

A memorial fund has been established and will possibly be used for scholarship programs, Herbster said. Contributions can be sent to Sooter Family Memorial Fund, Tri-City Ministries, 4500 Little Blue Parkway, Independence, MO 64057.