HERMANN — A political action committee is using the image of the alleged killer of a Hermann policeman in its campaign to oust incumbent and previously appointed Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.

The organization known as Defend Missouri, which has a mailing address in the town of Purdy in southwest Missouri’s Barry County, was formed to support the campaign of Will Scharf, who is challenging Bailey for the Republican Party nomination in the attorney general’s race.

However, as noted in a June report by the Missouri Independent news outlet, Defend Missouri transferred more than $500,000 of its funds to another political action committee (PAC), Club for Growth, an anti-tax, non-profit organization that historically has been more active at the federal government level than the state level. Club for Growth in April endorsed Scharf in the AG race.

The Missouri Independent report noted that in shifting most of its funding to Club for Growth, it became unclear whether Defend Missouri would continue its efforts on behalf of Scharf against Bailey in the Aug. 6 Primary Elections. That question apparently has been answered with the mailing delivered late last week to mailboxes in Gasconade County.

The piece of direct-mail campaign material features the photo of Kenneth Lee Simpson, who faces a capital murder charge, first-degree assault and a handful of other felony charges in the March 12, 2023, shooting at Casey’s in Hermann that claimed that the life of Hermann Det. Sgt. Mason Griffith and the serious wounding of Hermann patrolman Adam Sullentrup.

Sandwiched between Simpson’s mug shot at the top of one side of the mailer and a back view of a contingent of policemen in dress uniforms saluting an American flag at the bottom is copy blasting Bailey. “A slap on the wrist is all Andrew Bailey gave to an escalating violent criminal …the same hand used by Kenneth Lee Simpson to allegedly murder a Hermann police officer and wound another,” the mailer says.

On the other side, the mailer says “Andrew Bailey betrayed the blue…leaving the Hermann community and the fallen officer’s family wearing black.”

It also features a photo of former Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers — and a statement from the lawman who was removed from office by a court order after a reportedly allowing detainees to leave the Ray County Jail. “I worked with Andrew Bailey. I can tell you, he’s no friend of law enforcement. As a prosecutor, Bailey went easy on a violent career felon who once shot up a cop car. Bailey knew that, yet charged him with mere misdemeanors after he violently struck again…(sentenced to only) six month,” Childers says on the mailer.

It was Bailey who in March of this year filed a civil lawsuit to remove Childers from office, according to a television news report.

Simpson is being held in the Franklin County Jail, awaiting trial scheduled for January 2026. Bailey and two of his assistants are scheduled to prosecute the case, which will be held in Franklin County on a change of venue from Gasconade County.

The mailer was paid for by Defend Missouri and lists Rachel Freeman as the organization’s treasurer. It includes a disclaimer that the material is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee, which would indicate it was produced and delivered independently of the Scharf campaign.

Also running for attorney general this year are Democrat Elad Gross of St. Louis and Libertarian Ryan Munro of St. Louis. Bailey lists a Jefferson City address while Scharf has a St. Louis County address in Richmond Heights.

(Editor’s note: The mother-in-law to the deceased Hermann police detective, shares her family’s thoughts on the use of materials related to his death in the campaign, in a letter to the editor which appears this week’s Gasconade County Republican, The letter appears on page 2).