Joseph Kennedy charged with 4 counts of murder in case of dismembered Okmulgee men

Jessie Christopher Smith and Jack Money, Oklahoman
·4 min read
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Okmulgee County District Attorney Carol Iski (photo center foreground) formally announces murder charges on Monday against Joseph Lloyd Kennedy in a case involving four men found shot and dismembered in the nearby Deep Fork River in October.
Okmulgee County District Attorney Carol Iski (photo center foreground) formally announces murder charges on Monday against Joseph Lloyd Kennedy in a case involving four men found shot and dismembered in the nearby Deep Fork River in October.

OKMULGEE ― Authorities on Monday announced formal charges against Joseph Lloyd Kennedy II in the October case of four men found shot and dismembered in a nearby river.

Kennedy, 67, was charged Monday with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Mark Chastain, 32; Billy Chastain, 30; Mike Sparks, 32; and Alex Stevens, 29, all of Okmulgee. Kennedy is being held in the Okmulgee County Detention Center in without bond and faces the death penalty, life imprisonment or a life sentence without parole.

"This was a very lengthy investigation, and it continues as we speak," Okmulgee County District Attorney Carol Iski said during a news conference Monday afternoon. "Countless man-hours have been invested and dedicated to this investigation, and I applaud the District 25 Violent Crime Task Force for (its) tireless efforts to bring this case to justice."

Kennedy had been a "person of interest" since he fled Oklahoma after the men's bodies were discovered. According to an arresting affidavit filed Monday, Kennedy allegedly told a friend "they were stealing from him" and that he killed them and cut them up.

Four dead friends in an Oklahoma river: What we know about the Okmulgee killings

Officials are pictured Oct. 17 at the bridge where bodies were found in Okmulgee.
Officials are pictured Oct. 17 at the bridge where bodies were found in Okmulgee.

Court filing details state's investigation of Joseph Kennedy

During the news conference Monday, Iski outlined Kennedy's alleged actions in the days after the four men were reported missing.

Here is a look at the timeline, as reflected in affidavits filed Nov. 15 and Dec. 5:

Oct. 9

  • 3 p.m.: On the day prosecutors believe the shooting deaths occurred, Kennedy is seen parking his PT Cruiser across the street from his scrapyard at a Coke plant.

  • 5:37 p.m.: Mark Chastain's phone records indicate he arrives at the scrapyard.

  • 6:22 p.m.: About a dozen "high powered rifle shots" are reported by a deputy sheriff who lives in the area.

  • 7:59 p.m.: Video shows Kennedy leaving the scrapyard, wearing a different shirt, and leaving the area in his PT Cruiser.

  • 10:14 p.m.: Video shows Kennedy returning to the scrapyard, again parking at the Coke plant, this time driving a Toyota Tundra.

  • 11:15 p.m.: Kennedy is seen walking back to the Tundra and leaving the area.

Oct. 10

  • 1:19 a.m.: Kennedy returns to the scrapyard, again parking at the Coke plant.

  • 2:14 a.m.: Kennedy again leaves the scrapyard, still in the Tundra.

  • 2:44 a.m.: Kennedy returns to the scrapyard, again parking at the Coke plant.

  • 4:12 a.m.: Kennedy returns to the truck, drives it north a short distance and pulls into a vacant lot that borders his scrapyard. The lot is referred to as Pine Field.

  • 4:54 a.m.: The truck is seen returning to the Coke plant before turning around and going back to Pine Field.

  • 6:22 a.m.: A "vehicle consistent with the Tundra pickup" is seen leaving Pine Field going west on Sharp Road.

Deep Fork River where the bodies of four men were found on Oct. 19 in Okmulgee.
Deep Fork River where the bodies of four men were found on Oct. 19 in Okmulgee.

Oct. 14

  • Four bodies are discovered in the Deep Fork River after being seen from a bridge on Sharp Road.

  • Officers find personal items belonging to Mark Chastain in Pine Field with what is believed to be blood.

  • Prosecutors say Kennedy parked his PT Cruiser behind a warehouse in Morris and sometime later takes the Tundra belonging to a friend.

Oct. 15

  • 3 a.m.: Kennedy arrives at the home of a friend in Gore, possessing a bicycle belonging to one of the victims. The bicycle was identified by the victim's family. Kennedy tells the friend the men "were stealing from him" and that he killed them and cut them up. He then leaves her residence.

More: Killings in Okmulgee aren't the city's first tragedy, but residents continue to forge ahead

Kennedy was arrested on a stolen vehicle complaint on Oct. 18 in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, after the Tundra, reported stolen by the owner, was identified by an automated plate reader on a deputy sheriff's patrol car.

There, he was placed on a suicide watch because he told arresting officers he intended to jump off a hotel balcony in Daytona Beach, a charging affidavit showed.

Lab technicians and state investigators told police they had found a "partial DNA profile" from the blood swabs of personal items matching that of Billy Chastain's body investigators collected during autopsy, affidavits also showed.

Florida authorities ultimately dropped the stolen vehicle charge against Kennedy, which cleared the way for his extradition back to Oklahoma on Nov. 12, where he was booked into the Okmulgee County Detention Center.

"I understand this is a very high-profile case in great interest to many," Iski said. "However, it's a case that needs to be tried in a court of law and subject to the rules of evidence, not in the court of public opinion."

Iski said she was unable to provide further details regarding the case but that more information would be disclosed during the course of the prosecution.

Contributing: Staff writer Josh Dulaney

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Joseph Lloyd Kennedy charged with first-degree murder in Okmulgee County