Kansas City News Blog

Deann Leddick: Karen lied! She already had a house because I was renting it from her when she and Dennis where together and when they finally did split up, I had to move out. So if anything Dennis had a pattern of picking lieing women, but he did not hit them.

i want to know what the hell this story has to do with anything, this paper and stories were suppose to be about what a great man he was and how she destroyed his life so everyone could see what this man went threw in the last 4 years of his life , listen we all make mistakes but i have never seen dennis violent to a man or women and as far as im concerened anyone of you who went to that bar and had a drink must have a drinking problem. and if you lived what he lived the last 4 years ,you would be doing alot more than drinking beleave me i saw it with my own eyes

Oh I forgot to add one other important item about Karen Grounds. She was extremly violent. I personally witnessed Dennis comming into a bar one night and a woman was introducing Dennis to her Boyfriend. The next thing you know Karen walks right up to this woman and Punches her in the face. Totally uncalled for. The woman who ran the bar with her husband had finally had enough of Karen Grounds and threw her out. It was not the first time Karen had caused a problem in that bar or for the owners of that bar. In addition she attacked Chris Mitchell. So those police reports of her claiming he was abusive crap, crap, crap. She was the abusive one!
The stories of Karen Gounds could go on for miles!

This sounds like something from Lena's camp.

If you believe anything in this article except the fact that lena is a goldigger than u didn't know anything about my grandfather...he was amazing man and he will be greatly missed...Lena wanted nothing but his money and when she got that it still wasn't enough. My grandfather Dennis Hess was never a violent man, he actually tried to stay away from all the drama but with Karen and Lena there was no way out of the drama..Lena came into our family and ripped us apart she even burned all the family picture's that we had taken together, we used to get together every holiday and after she married my grandpa it didn't happen like that we hardly ever got together....Lena actually told my little sister that she wasn't allowed to call him grandpa cause it confused her daughter, Lena only gave us 30 min notice to come and see our grandfather for the last time, and the entire we were there we were being rushed that is no way to get to pay our finally respects. If any of you really knew Lena Hayes you would know that we were messing with the devil, she is coldhearted and doesn't care about anybody but herself, i honestly feel sorry for her daughter knowing that Lena took away the only man that she could actually consider her dad...WE LOVE YOU GRANDPA MAY YOU REST IN PEACE!!!!!

Chris Mitchell...I'm not talking about you. You made Denny happy!!! I never heard Denny say a bad thing about you..not like he did Karen & Lena !!!! Karen pulled a bunch of crap to get Denny away from his children..which you probably know about..and we all know what Lena did..Anyway, I wanted to set this straight, so no one would think I would put you in the same catagory as those two..When we get together, we'll drink a toast to the old fart !!!!

Drinking problem? He had poured himself a drink earlier in the afternoon. He was not under the influence of alcohol the afternoon this happened.
No mention of the drug charges? Did you miss the part that read thirty five years ago?
You might be a "commenter" but I am one that loved and was loved by Dennis Hess.

Drinking problem? Dennis had poured himself a drink that afternoon. He was not under the influence of alcohol.
Drug charges - did you miss the part that read thirty five years ago?
I am not a "commenter" - I am a "loved one".

you no all i want to say is there is not a day that goes by and i dont miss him , i loved dennis he was great to david and i and my kids they were heartbroken when they knew this happened dennis spent alot of time with my family threw the years and it has affected not just david and i but my family and alot of other families i will always have a special place in my heart for him i love you dennis tiffany cox

Contrary to what you all believe, not everyone knew (or even heard of) the man. I can only go by what is stated in these articles. It was said that the wife stated he'd been drinking, left the house, came back and committed suicide. His drinking was mentioned several times in the article, and who goes back to drinking after having cancer from said drinking if they don't have a problem?

I was busy being a kid in the 70's, not a drug dealer.

If the information in these articles are false, then by all means, clear it up for us, dear family and friends.

Reading what has been said WHERE for the last 4 months? Like I said, not everyone knows who this man is! This isn't national news or anything. I didn't go seeking out this story for gods sake!

Oh well, who cares. The author must have no idea what she's talking about. Pulled it all out of her ass I'm sure. Moving onto more important things going on in the world.

Becoming a friend of Lena's will have you sleeping with the fishes.

First of all, I have a difficult time believing that Lena was a victim by any stretch of the imagination. In her typical child-like immaturity, she used restraining orders as ritualistic abuse of power. Knowing this situation personally, it pisses me off that she could even be remotely painted as a victim. This is her game. It is those like her that make it difficult for those whom are truly ignorant enough to stay in abusive relationships, those truly needing that protection. If she was afraid, lil miss business owner “I’m a big girl and do it all by myself” would have never gone back to this so many times. It was a weapon of power. Nasty little thing deceitful thing she is.

Lena has a history of lies, countless people both professional and non that corroborate this. She also has a shady history of manipulations and in fact, questionable circumstances surrounding her entire life.

Drinking or not, loss of temper or not, drugs or not… you start counting up her instances of abuse of power, that started within months of the marriage, as opposed to Dennis’s actions or reaction; logic overcomes. The bottom line is…..no one should be treated with such disrespect, and they certainly do not deserve to die. I am appalled at how the Pitch has published any of this in what is deemed no more than bar gossip. I am also surprised at the lack of integrity of releasing the crime scene picture. I would have rather seen the correlations of maybe when Dennis introduced his wife at the NKC meeting as the new owner… what was really going on at that time? What about the suspiciousness of her fathers funeral and subsequent prison stint for attempting to carry out a hit on another man -- which was linked to Lena’s mother? What about the “credible” witnesses, not just “employees” of Denims. Such as large business owners, police timeline (especially where one of the restraining orders was taken out, yet the next day Dennis was a pallbearer at her step-fathers funeral), How about those pictures she took on her cell phone of said former prison bound step-fathers untimely accident leading to his death, public business records on file, historical data…etc…Then create a time line. If anything the idea of “restraining” orders being misused is quite obvious.

I don’t think anyone who was close to Dennis would say he did not have his fault, or even limits. We all do. We all have pressure points where we can only take so much. Some are more balanced and mature than others, and some not so much. I think watching this situation from afar Dennis did a tremendous job of TRYING to take something really-really wrong and make it right. I truly believe for the right reasons. I know for a fact Lena lied about her past, who she was, her finances; she did this prior to even meeting Dennis in several realms. She is what psychology would deem a true Pathological liar.

Dennis was a happy-go-lucky guy, who did not have a “bad word” to say about anyone. He did have the uncanny ability to appease warring factions without doing so. I know Dennis had some ‘enemies‘, but very few. Usually, those who were turned off by the “honky-tonk” scene. I also know more of the elitist crowd takes a stance about Denims that it is nothing but trouble, where the riff raff or unwanted end up… I guess that’s why admired Dennis. He had the ability to find good in everyone; genuinely. I resent the fact that people are so sanctimonious that they honestly believe that what Dennis went through was deserving in any way. I am a strong judge of character, and I’ve been wrong. Not about this.

I agree with the above poster on the question of where the stories are of his remarkable contributions to the world? Is there some of that sanctimonious attitude behind these articles? Because in my short stint in this life, I have come to realize many people are on different paths, they come from different backgrounds and have their own demons to overcome. True, there were many people in Dennis life who have been proven to have issues with one addiction, lack of self esteem, or another. But it takes people like Dennis, with a foot on both sides to make a difference. I think that is what drew me to him the most. Fascinated by his ease with people who had REAL problems…accepting them and encouraging them to find a better path. Something I don’t think I would have his strength to do? Opening myself up to other peoples drama and chaos. So of course, it would be natural to see quite a bit of this around him. Sometimes this can become a slippery slope and there can be a big set of teeth waiting for you, but he was brave enough to try. I believe this was his life’s good work. I believe he did this BECAUSE of his past and wisdom gleaned. His hope that something good might come from his mistakes. The club wasn’t about money for Dennis. Not in his heart.

Was he perfect? Nah. But he was perfectly Dennis. I have never known a man like him, and doubt anyone will fill his shoes.

Check out CASENET for the facts regarding Kenneth Hayes prison time..also the Marshall, Mo newspaper has the article in it's archives. The hit was intended for Mr. Hayes, but he shot the hitman instead. It occurred back in 1982. If you are looking for time-lines, on CASENET you will see some dates from years ago are June 15th or February 26th. Coincidence, don't believe it.

Country Girl- I stand corrected. It should have said, "on a hit man". Thank you for the clarification; writing that quickly.

Pfft; the whole premise on these articles is bar gossip. It's truly disgusting. My point was that it would have been nice if the writer followed through with evidence corresponding to the "personal accounts". If anything, making more of a point of how truly UNFEARFUL of Dennis Lena was. Not to mention the manipulative abuse of the law in the process. If you're going to tell a story, research it and tell the whole darn thing.

The only fear she had was looking bad because he had seen the truth through her lies.

The last thing in the world she wants to see is people getting their heads together, dates etc...

I feel so terrible for the family and especially Kris though this... but honestly, I am more afraid someone is next with this Pathological Lying, who displays the entire gamut of signs of an Emotional Abuser.

Every ONE of her relationships were marked with the same pathological responses. Not one relationship she has had in her life can be upheld as evidence as marker for healthy.

Dennis's relationships were in contrast a very different story. I reserve judgment on Karen.. however, I can say that I do believe from what I witnessed that she also had some similar emotional and abusive tendencies. The other females in Dennis's life insist this type of strong-arming and abuse never happened with them. So basically, the articles show Dennis had many-many relationships that were consistent in quality and only two that could be held against him in any way. Those two are under highly unusual circumstances and the accusations are questionable.. there is reasonable doubt to these accusations.

If Lena was fearful for her life… she would have walked out that door and never looked back - like a real woman. She used Dennis weakness to ‘win’ what she wanted, [she has to win] tormenting him with the very things he was fearful of… playing on his emotions, withholding basic necessities - as an emotional manipulator and abuser usually does….control by confusion.

It is quite possible he did finally lose his mind.

I don't think Dennis failed anyone. I think Dennis tried to handle things himself and had no idea what he was up against. She needs a professional.

I didn't personally know either of these people, but they both sound like very troubled people. I'm sorry that he shot and killed himself, but he had a long history of making bad judgments and his last one cost him his life. More than one woman in his life seemed to prey on his poor choices for their financial gain. Lena just happened to be the one who cashed in the most. It's all just a crying shame!

I see a Toys for Tots event is scheduled on the Denim's website. People need to be aware that last year they came up $6,500 short -- so if you want to make sure your donations are actually going towards Toys for Tots, I'd urge you to go to Paul & Jacks on December 11th for Outlaw Jim and the Whiskeybenders.

http://www.myspace.com/outlawjimandthewhiskeybenders

Oh -- and I'm one of those people who won't to step a foot inside Denim's as long as Lena is owner. I refuse to do anything that might aid in her financial support nor would I want to give the misconception that I support her actions by being a customer.

To Outsider and Former D&D Customer:

Just curious if my info is correct and you might know the answer, but I heard that most of the "Snake Saturday" proceeds came up missing also...which Saturday, I'm not sure because Dennis was kicked out of HIS bar so many times !!! But I don't think I'm wrong about money disappearing since Dennis hooked up with Lena.