Continental Trailways Bus Hijacking of July 3, 1982

A young couple who believed they would be resurrected died in a murder-suicide on the Little Buffalo River Bridge at Jasper (Newton County) after hijacking a Continental Trailways bus on July 3, 1982.

Former U.S. Marine Keith Haigler, age twenty-six, and his wife Kate Clark Haigler, twenty-four, were followers of a Newton County man named Emory Lamb who professed a belief called the Foundation of Ubiquity (FOU). They lived on his land a few miles from Jasper, where Kate Haigler worked at the Ozark Cafe. They became convinced that Lamb was the Messiah and believed that if they died and their bodies were brought to his home they would rise from the dead after three and a half days. The couple devised a plan to die at the hands of police officers.

The Haiglers were among seventeen passengers on Continental Trailways bus number 22303 heading west to Wichita, Kansas, on July 3, 1982. As the bus approached St. Joe (Searcy County), Keith Haigler pulled a .22-caliber pistol, pressed it to the head of driver Bill Carney, and ordered him to turn the bus toward Jasper.

As they neared Jasper, a female passenger suffered an apparent heart attack. When Carney stopped the bus diagonally on the Little Buffalo River Bridge at around 12:30 p.m., the hijackers allowed another passenger to carry the stricken woman to a nearby motel and call for an ambulance.

Carney was then given a note for Sheriff Ray Watkins, in which the lawman was instructed to contact Springfield, Missouri, television reporter Jim Caldwell and have him come to Jasper to cover the story; the driver and his young son, a passenger, were then let off the bus. The note stated that the Haiglers “are the witnesses spoken of in Revelation Chapter 11” and that the couple’s bodies were to be taken to Lamb’s home after they were killed—revealing their plan to be shot to death by law enforcement officers—and on July 7 “the spirit of life will enter into them and we will stand on our feet.” The note demanded that the reporter was to be in Jasper within two hours or “we will shoot one person every half hour until this demand is met.”

Watkins and a friend of the Haiglers tried to convince them to abandon their plan, to no avail, and Lamb twice refused pleas to come to the bridge to talk to them, saying it was a law enforcement matter.

Caldwell and a cameraman arrived via helicopter before the deadline. Seven of the hostages were released on their arrival, and Watkins persuaded the hijackers to let the others off the bus after the television reporter interviewed them. Several local journalists spoke with the Haiglers and tried to convince them to abandon their suicide plans without success.

At 4:46 p.m., the armed Haiglers stepped off the bus and began walking toward the police barricades. After walking about thirty feet, they dropped to their knees and continued moving forward in an attempt to make it harder for the lawmen to inflict a non-fatal wound. Sharpshooters fired two shots, one of which immobilized Keith Haigler. Kate Haigler, though also wounded, shot her husband in the chest before turning the gun on herself and firing a shot into her chest. Keith Haigler was killed instantly. Kate Haigler died in the ambulance while being transported to a hospital in Harrison (Boone County).

Keith Haigler was buried in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, while Kate Haigler’s cremated remains were sent to her mother in California. Emory Lamb was largely ostracized following their deaths; he died in 1995.

For additional information:
“Bus Commandeered, 14 Are Held Hostage, 2 Suspects Fatally Shot.” Galveston [Texas] Daily News, July 4, 1982, p. 1A, 2A.

Greene, Omar. “Sheriff Criticizes Leader of FOU Cult.” Arkansas Democrat, July 5, 1982, pp. 1A, 4A.

Launius, Philip. “2 Cult Members Seize Bus; Shot and Killed after Hostages Freed.” Arkansas Gazette, July 4, 1982, pp. 1A, 5A.

May, Molly. Witnesses for the Lamb: The True Story of Hijacking, Murder, and Suicide in the Ozarks. Portland, OR: Cellar Door, 2021.

“‘Messiah’ Refuses to Help Police.” Paris [Texas] News, July 5, 1982, p. 3.

“Sect Members Wanted to Die after Freeing Hostages.” [Poplar Bluff, Missouri] Daily American Republic, July 6, 1982, p. 1.

“Sect’s ‘Messiah’ Rejected Pleas.” Arkansas Gazette, July 5, 1982, pp. 1A, 5A.

Mark K. Christ
Central Arkansas Library System