Investigative journalist Richard Serrano tells the story of his grandfather’s murder and its cover-up—with links to political boss Tom Pendergast and other colorful characters.

A drunk living on Kansas City's skid row, James Patrick Lyons was arrested 80 times for public intoxication. On the night of his last arrest, he was taken to the city jail and held in solitary confinement. The next morning he was dead. Officials said it was natural causes—yet they could not explain his broken neck.

Serrano is a former reporter for the Kansas City Times and former Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. He is also author of One of Ours: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing.

This presentation is part of the Missouri Valley Speakers Series, a program of the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Central Library.