Police refuse to let 40-year-old killing go

Alex T. Paschal/Gazette Lee County Detective Shane Miller, left, holds a sketch of the man believed to have shot Ralph Full in 1967. He and fellow detective, Jeff Dallas, continue to search for clues in the 40-year-old case.

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Time heals all wounds, or so goes the well-worn phrase. That's not the case for Leon Full and his family, though. The 66-year-old Dixon man is reminded of that when he visits his 85-year-old mother at a nursing home in Mendota.

She still mentions the killing. Every time.

His father, Ralph, was the victim of road rage; 40 years later, the shooter has not been found.

"There hasn't been any closure to it," Leon said. "He was only 47 when he died. He couldn't see his grandkids."

In 1967, Ralph Full was doing pretty well for himself. He was happily married to his wife, Evelyn, and ran the family farm near LaMoille with the help of his six children.

His eldest son, Leon, was 25 and living in Sterling. One day in August, Leon and his brother, Darrell, decided to go to Sidney, Iowa, to see a rodeo. As they pulled out of the driveway, they waved goodbye to their father, not knowing it was the last time they'd see him alive.

That night, Ralph went out for a night of drinking with his friend, Joe Todd, in Ralph's 1965 Chevy. They attended a hayride party that ended up at a tavern in Walton, then went to a friend's home on Corregidor Road after the bar closed. Now close to 2 in the morning, Ralph and Joe began to head back for the night; he turned south on state Route 26 to take Joe home.

That's where the rest of the story can best be related by those who were there and lived to tell about it.

Joe gave his version of events to authorities that night, and at a coroner's inquest the day after.

While traveling on state Route 26, the two encountered another car headed in the same direction. The driver slowed up and Ralph passed him. Then later, the other car passed Ralph.

At a point near the Harmon spur, the other driver, whose car then was behind theirs, signaled them to stop. He came up to Ralph's car and complained about the bright lights bothering him when they passed, then went back to his car and both headed south again. They kept passing one another until before Green River Bridge, when the other driver, who was in front, pulled his car far onto the right shoulder and stopped. As Ralph's car came alongside and stopped, the argument about the headlights resumed.

After a few minutes, the other man stepped out of his car and, without warning, fired twice through the right window of Ralph's car.

One bullet hit Ralph in the chest and killed him. The other hit Joe in the left wrist. He survived by pretending to be dead, and after the killer drove away, he drove to a nearby farm for help.

***

Later that morning, about 425 miles away, Leon and Darrell Full were pulling into the rodeo parking lot when an attendant read his license plate and told him to go see the sheriff, who broke the news. The boys called their mother and headed for home.

Nothing ever was the same, Leon said. "We counted on him for everything."

One of his brothers took over the family farm, and his mom went to work in town to make ends meet.

Now, 40 years later, he can't accept that his dad's killer cannot be found. He has a list in his head of people who might have wanted to kill him.

"The unsolved part rubs salt in the wound," Leon said. "I hope they come up with enough (evidence) to put our family's minds at ease as to who they think did it."

***

Solving a cold case is never easy, and in this instance, it is nearly impossible. The Lee County Sheriff's Department continues to look at the evidence and previous reports, but nothing more has come to light, said Detective Shane Miller, who, along with his partner, has been with the detective division two years. Including their boss, Sgt. Det. David Glessner, none were even alive when the murder happened.

Sometimes, with the passage of time, police catch a break. As days and years go by, new evidence can be discovered. An old witness may find the courage to step forward. Advances in technology, such as DNA testing, can reveal things that couldn't be seen in the past.

Unfortunately, with three of the five main suspects now dead themselves, and no DNA evidence, the chances of identifying the killer, let alone prosecuting anyone, are slim, Miller said.

"It's tough to solve, because there's no DNA," Miller said. "The scene of the crime was the suspect's vehicle, which was gone. The other issue is that they were on the highway traveling. Anyone on the road could have been a suspect."

Reach Malinda Osborne at (815) 625-3600 or (800) 798-4085, ext. 526.