The Outlaw Motorcycle Gang:1970’s Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky was home to a motorcycle gang in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The Outlaws were aptly named as they were apprehended and convicted of multiple crimes.
On October 4th of 1972, several members were asked to leave a bar in Louisville. One member of the gang, 21 year old Thomas P. Krause shot the bar owner, John W. Lively’s in the back of the head. Krause fled the state but was apprehended and eventually convicted. But, rather than a stiff sentence for murder, Krause was only given a ten year probation. His lawyer had argued that if he was free he would be able to work and help Lively’s widow financially. So, Thomas Pedro Krause was free to do as he pleased. I didn’t find any articles about The Outlaws holding and fundraisers for Mrs. Lively.
Beverly Gay Moore was born September 8th, 1950 to Dorothy M. Spradlin Moore and Robert R. Moore.
She grew up in Selvin, Indiana. That’s in Warrick County in Southern Indiana not too far from the Ohio River. I grew up in that area and went swimming at a local lake there called Yellow Banks. For us rural kids that lake beach was like the French Riviera.
She married at age 17 in 1967 and a few children came along pretty soon. But, the marriage didn’t last. Her parents, Dorothy and Robert took in her children and raised them but Beverly visited often. She was still so young herself and not really able to make a good living on her own in a small town. Life is not always as easy as you think it should be.
Beverly fell for a new guy named Thomas Pedro Krause Jr. He had grown up in Newburgh which is also in Warrick County. Krause was a member of The Outlaws Motorcycle Club based in Louisville, Kentucky but he frequently visited his family in Indiana.
Thomas Pedro Krause and his friends were asked to leave a bar one night in 1972. On October 4th, 1972, Mr. John W. Lively, 57, cut the group off and asked them to leave the Louisville bar. Thomas Pedro Krause Jr. and his gang members did not go quietly. 21 year old Krause shot John W. Lively in the back of the head with a small caliber weapon. Mr. Lively died of that gun shot wound.
Thomas Pedro Krause Jr. fled the state but was captured and extradited. He was charged with murder but was able to plead down to manslaughter and only received probation. His lawyer said that if he was free he could perhaps work and help out Mr. John W. Lively’s widow. I didn’t find any articles about Krause and the outlaws having any fundraisers for Mrs. Lively.
Thomas Pedro Krause Jr. spent Christmas back in Indiana in 1973. He had a traffic accident in Boonville.
By 1974, Beverly Moore and Thomas Pedro Krause Jr. were married and living in Louisville across the street from the Outlaws clubhouse.
Things were not going well for them in Louisville. Thomas Pedro Krause and his friends were asked to leave a bar one night.
Beverly called the police after Thomas beat her up in early July of 1974. He was arrested and spent a day or so in jail. Once he had bonded out he went back to his place across from the Outlaws clubhouse.
Beverly disappeared from Louisville on July 13th, 1974. She was never seen alive again.
Maybe you’re asking, “Why didn’t she leave?” Well, She lived across from the clubhouse. Other Outlaw gang members would have been watching her. If she had somehow left and gone back home they might have followed her and inflicted more suffering upon her and her family.
If you are familiar with other cults then you know that it’s incredibly difficult to escape a cult. Victims are slowly brainwashed. Fear is paralyzing. Victims are often so demoralized and broken down mentally that they don’t see a life outside it. You feel you have to go along to get along.
Later on in the 1980’s there would be more awareness of battered woman syndrome and Stockholm syndrome thanks in part to movies like “The Burning Bed” that starred Farrah Fawcett. (You can find it on YouTube.) It was based on a true story and shows the difficulties faced by women in abusive relationships. In Beverly’s case; her abuser had a whole gang of other abusers to help him enforce control over her.
Beverly’s body was found on the 18th of July 1974 in a sludge pit in Butler County, Ohio. But, there was no identification on her body. The doctor who performed the autopsy simply presumed that a drug overdose was the cause of death. She was wearing a shirt and pants but the clothes were in disarray suggesting sexual assault. On her abdomen there was a tattoo that said, “Property of Tom”.
The pit where Beverly had been found was drained and searched for any other evidence. A man’s class ring was found with lettering and logos from a high school in Kentucky.
Post mortem photos of Beverly were circulated to other law enforcement agencies in nearby states in an attempt to try to identify her.
A woman in Tennessee felt that this body was her missing daughter. Her daughter had worn a class ring from Kentucky on a chain. The girl resembled Beverly. So this mother was convinced that the body was her own missing daughter. And so the misidentified Beverly was buried under this other young lady’s name in Tennessee. But, then in 1975, that missing Tennessee gal came home. Imagine the shock that would give a family. They got the joyful reunion that so many families long for.
The authorities in Ohio were notified but the huge serial killer crime wave was happening then. At least 8 serial killers were wreaking havoc in Ohio in the mid to late 70’s.
In 1975, just a few months after Beverly “disappeared”; Thomas P. Krause filed for divorce from the missing Beverly Krause in Newburgh, Indiana.
Thomas P. Krause Jr. remarried a woman named Debra sometime in the following years. He opened a motorcycle shop in Evansville, Indiana.
In 1988, Beverly Krause was exhumed. A second autopsy was performed and dental records were used to positively identify her. Beverly Gay Moore Krause finally had her name back. This time the doctor who performed the autopsy did not just presume that drugs were involved. This doctor found that she had been violently beaten to death. She had suffered traumatic injuries to the head and face including a broken jaw.
Beverly was returned to her parents and was buried under her maiden name Beverly Gay Moore. Her children have a grave to visit and they at least know that she is home.
Thomas Pedro Krause Jr. lives in a sunny southern state now. He and Debra live the life of many ordinary looking retirees.
Beverly Moore Krause was only 23 when she was viciously murdered. She was still so young. Her three children had to grow up without her. They were adults before they found out that she hadn’t run away; that she would have returned to them in this life if she possibly could have.
None of us knows what will happen when we make the choices we make. We all want to believe that people are mostly good. Beverly was that good. She believed in the good in people. She trusted people. Sadly, she met up with some selfish and violent people who didn’t see others the same way.
I came across Beverly’s case on the Butler County Sheriff’s podcast. I was startled to hear she was from close to where I grew up. I had never heard of her case. It’s strange how much sadness can lie under the surface in just one rural county. You never know what people might be going through.
Beverly’s case is still unsolved. No one has been charged. But at that second autopsy evidence was collected. Fingernails were clipped and scraped. Hairs were collected. DNA can now be extracted from a fingerprint or from a drop of biological material like blood or semen the size of a pinprick. The crevice of a chipped fingernail might contain everything they need to know. Every day advances in DNA technology are made. Every day cases are solved.
Every single day people are growing and changing also. Sometimes people’s loyalties change. Sometimes they see things in a new light. They aren’t the same people at age 60 that they were at age 20. They no longer fear or feel loyal to a person. There may be someone out there right now who doesn’t want to keep a secret any more.
If you have any information about the murder of Beverly, please call the Butler County Sheriff’s Office at
513-785-1300 or submit a tip online or by text at this link: https://butler-county-sheriffs-office.dev.omnispear.org/submit-a-tip
Thomas Pedro Krause would be 74 in January 2026.
Now, let’s get back to the Outlaws in the 1970’s…
Wayne Lee Cornish was also arrested in the 1972 murder of bar owner, John W. Lively. He died in a shootout in 1976. The Outlaws did not ride their motorcycles to his funeral because it was too cold out and they didn’t want to get cold or slip on the ice. They were tough but not THAT tough.
This shooting death did nothing to deter the Outlaws from their crimes. In 1976 many members of the gang were arrested for car, trucks and motorcycle thefts in multiple states. One might assume that these stolen motorcycles were then chopped or altered to change their appearance and maybe even sold. Who worked on those motorcycles and where? (The murderer of John Lively, Thomas Pedro Krause later opened a motorcycle shop in Evansville which operated for decades. So, he allegedly knew a thing or two about motorcycle repair.)
John T. Rutledge, 28, was also given five years.
Martin W. Roper, 31, was likewise given five years. He was from Shepherdsville. He seems to be still living as of January 2026, possibly in a sunny southern state. He would be 83 now.
Herschel S. Blanton of Battletown was the oldest of the four at 38. He was also sentenced to five years.
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