Marking the 50th Anniversary of Wichita's 'Holiday Inn Sniper'

On August 11th, 1976, 19-year-old troubled teenager Michael Soles took an elevator to the top floor of the Holiday Inn building in downtown Wichita, Kansas with two bolt rifles and a bucket of ammunition. Across the span of 11 minutes, three people were killed and seven more injured from his balcony sniper fire.

This coming August 11th, PBS Kansas Channel 8 (KPTS) at 7 p.m. will premiere Long Echo, a 30-minute documentary about the crimes, on the 50th anniversary of the occurrence date. The film was directed by veteran investigative journalist Kevin Patrick Allen, whose father, Ralph H. Allen Jr., was the Sedgwick County Jail chaplain in 1976 and tended to Soles over the subsequent years. (Dad passed away in 2019.)

Michael Soles 2017 prison mugshot

Soles gave his first interview to the Wichita Eagle in December 1986. At the time, he tried to frame the events that followed the loss of both a girlfriend and a job. "I did not have control over what was happening at that time, " he insisted. "I did not even know what was going on at the time. Whether people will understand that, I don't know."

Director Allen corresponded with the incarcerated killer for the making of the documentary. In 2017, Soles, who is serving three life sentences, was denied parole. He is eligible for another parole hearing in July, 2027.

Among the three people killed in the sniper attack was 56-year-old photojournalist Joe Goulart. In the documentary, his daughter Vickie Horton speaks publicly about the loss for the first time. (The others killed by Soles were 23-year-old loan officer Mark Falen and 57-year-old glass company employee Elmer Hensley.)

Cinematographer Derek Landwehr, currently a graduate student at Wichita State University, was connected to filmmaker Allen by Dr. Jay Price, his professor of history. "This is a story of the healing journey and the mental health aspects, rather than a recount of the day itself," Landwehr explained. “People are still dealing with it. This documentary presents a unique spin on what people think it should be."

Immediately prior to the KPTS documentary, KAKE-TV Channel 10 Wichita will air at 6:30 p.m. At What Cost: The Aftermath of the Holiday Inn Sniper, a similar half-hour report hosted and reported by Abby Wray. Soles, one of the longest-standing prison inmates in Kansas, is currently being held at the Winfield Correctional Facility in Winfield.

[Long Echo official website]