BEAM, Michael Noel

Michael Noel Beam

• 2000-10-02 Mary Kelsay

Summary

Michael Noel Beam (also recorded in some sources as "Beams"), of Fritch, Texas, was a co-defendant in the October 2000 robbery-murder of Mary Kelsay at a Lake Meredith bait shop, for which he served more than two decades in prison. After his release in the mid-2020s, he was arrested again in March 2026 for a violent stabbing in Amarillo.

Co-Defendant

• John Ashley Griffin #people/G/Griffin/John-Ashley

Timeline

Images

Background

Beam is from Fritch, Texas, a small town on the shores of Lake Meredith in Hutchinson County. He was 20 years old in October 2000.

The Kelsay bait shop robbery and murder

On October 2, 2000, Mary Kelsay, 61, a clerk at Ross's Roost bait shop in Moore County, was shot once in the head and killed during a robbery. Beam and co-defendant John Ashley Griffin, 19, of Stinnett, fled Texas in a stolen vehicle carrying a stolen firearm. The two were arrested together in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 11, 2000, initially on unrelated Texas warrants alleging unauthorized use of a vehicle, theft of a car, a home burglary, and forgeries in Hutchinson County. Investigators traveled to Las Vegas to question the pair specifically about the Kelsay killing; at that time, Moore County Lt. Tom Shelton said, "We don't have enough to call them suspects, but we would like to talk to them"^[1]. Full case details are covered at Mary Kelsay homicide.

Griffin was ultimately charged with capital murder and convicted; Beam was initially held as a material witness rather than immediately charged as a co-defendant. The precise charge, plea, and court proceedings against Beam were not identified in the sources reviewed for this entry. However, later reporting confirms he was held criminally responsible in connection with the case: a 2025 retrospective article stated that "Beam served his sentence and was released," and a 2026 article reported he had been "recently released from prison after serving over 20 years for the murder of a woman near Lake Meredith"^[2][3]

2026 arrest for aggravated assault

On March 19, 2026, Amarillo police responded to a stabbing report in the area of Southwest 5th Street and South Parker Street. Officers found a male victim "bleeding profusely" from five stab wounds to his upper back. The victim and several witnesses told police the attacker was a man they knew only as "Mike," who had fled south from the scene after the attack.

While officers were still on scene interviewing witnesses, the suspect returned. According to police documents, he was out of breath, bleeding from several cuts on his face, and appeared to be covered in grass. Witnesses and the victim identified him as the attacker. He denied involvement, telling officers he was "just out for a run." Officers located nearby security camera footage, which showed the suspect approaching the victim — who was sitting on the ground — the two arguing, and the suspect then drawing a knife and stabbing the victim repeatedly.

When confronted with the footage, the suspect, identified as 46-year-old Michael Noel Beams, said he had "blacked out" and "did not know anything about what had happened." He was arrested based on the video evidence and witness statements and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony under Texas law carrying a punishment range of up to 20 years in prison. As of the report, Beam was being held without bond at the Potter County Detention Center.^[3:1]

People involved

Sources