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Records show family, legal strife
Kenney feuded with police and relatives

By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff

May 15. 2007 8:00AM

It’s true that Liko Kenney had an unhappy history with the Franconia police corporal he shot and killed Friday evening during a traffic stop. Kenney was convicted of assaulting Cpl. Bruce McKay in 2003 after grabbing McKay in the groin during an arrest. But Kenney had difficulties with others too, including the state police and his own family.

In 2005, an aunt got a restraining order against Kenney after he felled a tree onto her home, according to court records.

Kenney, 24, of Easton, was shot and killed by a passer-by Friday evening after he killed McKay, 48. McKay had stopped Kenney for speeding and a registration problem. Kenney told McKay he’d have to get another officer to handle those offenses and drove away, the police said. McKay followed Kenney and forced him to the side of the road with his cruiser.

Then the interaction became violent. McKay peppersprayed Kenney and his passenger, a 21-year-old co-worker who’d needed a ride. Kenney responded by shooting McKay four times and backing his car over him, the police said. A passer-by who witnessed the shooting, Gregory Floyd, grabbed McKay’s police gun and shot and killed Kenney after Kenney refused to drop his own gun.

Locals who knew both Kenney and McKay said the two had tangled before and, as a result, disliked one another. But according to Grafton County Attorney Rick St. Hilaire, McKay showed consideration for Kenney and recommended a light sentence. And according to court records, Kenney’s “run-ins” were numerous and involved more than only police officers.

The earliest court file available on Kenney yesterday was for a minor offense. The state Fish and Game cited him for driving an unregistered ATV. He was found guilty and fined $90. But the offenses quickly escalated.
In early Jan. 2003, Kenney was charged with criminal mischief for felling trees onto the home of John Kenney, an uncle. John Kenney’s wife, Larisa Kenney, photographed her nephew cutting down the trees and then ran for help. Kenney stopped her, grabbed her arms and demanded she hand over her camera, according to court records.

Larisa Kenney made it to a relative’s home nearby and called the police. Larisa Kenney took out a restraining order against her nephew. Before the paperwork arrived, Kenney sent her flowers and an apology note, the court records said.

The parties agreed to continue the case to reach a resolution. That resolution was not stated in court records. A few weeks later, Kenney met McKay for the first time.

McKay was patrolling town when he noticed fresh tire tracks in the snow leading into a park. McKay followed the tracks because the police had recently had problems with parties in the area. In the park, McKay saw a vehicle that appeared to be empty. He focused his headlights and cruiser “take down” lights on it.

Inside the car, McKay saw Kenney reclined in the front seat, according to court records. The two did not know each other personally, although McKay knew Kenney by reputation, according to a summary of the event provided yesterday by St. Hilaire. Kenney told McKay he was waiting for friends.

When McKay asked Kenney for his license, Kenney initially refused to produce it, then accused McKay of stealing his license. He then tried to drive out of the park. McKay moved his cruiser to block Kenney, and Kenney looked for another exit, St. Hilaire said. Kenney told McKay he wanted him to call in another officer. McKay responded that he’d already called the Littleton and Bethlehem police.

It took three officers to arrest a screaming Kenney, who tried to wrestle away while accusing the officers of “molesting” and “torturing” him.

During the struggle, Kenney squeezed McKay’s testicles, court records said. McKay yelled in pain and hit the left side of Kenney’s face, St. Hilaire said. Kenney continued to resist arrest, and even after he was placed in the cruiser in handcuffs and leg restraints he got away briefly, St. Hilaire said.

While searching Kenney, the authorities found two knives and .22 caliber casings in Kenney’s pockets, St. Hilaire said. They also found a pipe with marijuana residue in it, according to court records.

Later, at the hospital, Kenney complained of a injured jaw, but St. Hiliare said doctors found no evidence of a fracture. Kenney also asked a trooper to kill him. He was later released to his parents’ custody.

Kenney was indicted on charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and escape. Drug possession charges were dropped, according to court records, as were the escape charges from superior court. Kenney was released on personal recognizance bail on the other charges.

A few days later, one of Kenney’s uncles reported that Kenney was trespassing on his property. The police responded and found that Kenney was riding an ATV with a blowdart gun. The county attorney’s office succeeded in getting Kenney’s bail revoked and he was placed under house arrest in June 2003. That house arrest was terminated several days later when Kenney took off his electronic monitoring bracelet, St. Hilaire said.

Kenney was ultimately convicted of the assault and resisting arrest charges and given a sentence of one year in jail with all but 15 days suspended. St. Hilaire said it was McKay who supported the short jail stay.

Kenney was arrested again this year, on Feb. 12, for assaulting a 15-year-old boy. According to court records, Kenney put his arm around the boy’s throat and choked him after accusing the boy of stealing from him, the court records said. Kenney was convicted and fined $250.

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Floyd had own run-ins

By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff

May 15. 2007 8:00AM

T he man who jumped to the aid of a shot police officer in Franconia Friday offered a very different response several years ago to a pair of New Hampshire troopers investigating him on a criminal charge. In 1997, Gregory Floyd, 49, told the troopers how he’d kill them if he wanted them dead.

“I know you wear vests,” Floyd told them, according to court records. “So I would have put it right between the eyes.”

Floyd of Easton has been cleared of wrongdoing for shooting Liko Kenney, 24, of Easton after Kenney shot and killed Franconia police officer Bruce McKay, 48. Floyd, a passer-by, shot Kenney after Kenney refused to put his gun down, according to Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, who said Saturday Floyd’s actions were justified.

In the past, Floyd has found himself the target of police investigations, according to court records made available yesterday.

Floyd’s arrest record goes back to at least 1981, when he was convicted in Georgia of selling marijuana and theft by unauthorized taking, the court records said. Floyd also had a misdemeanor offense of disturbing the peace in Massachusetts, but the date of that offense was not available yesterday. It is unclear from court records when Floyd, his wife Michelle and son Gregory Floyd moved to New Hampshire.

He was in the state by 1997, when he was arrested twice within a month. In May of that year, the state police charged Floyd with criminal threatening for allegedly showing a clenched fist to a 24-year-old meter reader for New Hampshire Co-op. According to court records, Floyd asked the meter reader, “Do I need to kick your ass?”

The court file did not explain why Floyd was upset with the meter reader. The state police had been to Floyd’s house the month before, the court records said, because neighbors had complained that Floyd was shooting guns on his property. Floyd told the police he’d shot at bears to scare them off and said he didn’t realize how close other homes were.

Floyd also told the police he had served in the Marines and was an “expert shot,” the court records said. When the state police searched Floyd’s home, they found six guns but believed they had no reason to confiscate them.

The state police returned to Floyd’s home after the meter reader complained that Floyd had threatened him. The police learned that during the meter reader’s visit, Floyd had told his son to go inside and “get the pouch.” When the son returned, he told his father, “Mom is awake, I could not get the gun,” the court records said.

The police charged Floyd with criminal threatening. It was during this incident that Floyd told the police how he’d kill them if he chose to - by shooting them in the head and giving them a “third eye.”

Upon further checking, the police learned that Floyd’s 1991 drug arrest in Georgia was a felony level offense. That, the state police concluded, meant Floyd could not legally own guns in New Hampshire. In June 1997, the state police added a second charge against Floyd: being a felon in possession of firearms.

During that arrest, Floyd attempted to knee Trooper Scot Bryan in the groin, according to court records, and was charged with attempted assault of a police officer.

He pleaded guilty to the attempted assault and received a suspended prison sentence in 1998. The police dismissed the criminal threatening charge, but it was not clear why from court records. And the gun charges were dismissed after Floyd’s lawyer, Gerard Boyle, now a Concord District Court judge, showed the court that the drug charges that were felonies in Georgia only counted as misdemeanors in New Hampshire.

According to state law, that meant Floyd was not a felon in possession in New Hampshire.

Floyd’s most recent court cases have been financial, not criminal matters. It appears he has fallen behind on payments.

Floyd described himself and his son, who is in his 20s, as disabled in court records in 2002. Floyd’s son was with him Friday evening and also intervened when McKay was shot. The police said the younger Floyd used McKay’s police radio to call for help.

Floyd could not be reached for comment. He ordered a reporter off his property this weekend and posted No Trespassing signs.

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