Order prevents person of interest in Okmulgee killings from selling his property
OKMULGEE — An attorney representing relatives of three of the four men found shot and dismembered in a river earlier this month convinced a judge Tuesday to issue an order barring a man who is a person of interest in the case from disposing of any property he and his estranged wife own until circumstances surrounding the men's deaths become more clear.
Attorney Robert V. Seacat said he obtained that temporary injunction as part of a wrongful death lawsuit he filed against Joseph Lloyd Kennedy II in Okmulgee County District Court.
Kennedy, 67, has not been charged with a crime related to the shooting deaths and dismemberments of Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, or Alex Stephens, 29.
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Kennedy was identified on Oct. 17 as a person of interest a few days after the men's shot and dismembered bodies were discovered dumped in the Deep Fork River a few miles outside of town.
The following day, Kennedy was arrested in Florida after police there said they caught him driving an Oklahoma-tagged vehicle its owner had reported stolen.
What we know about the lawsuit that was filed
Seacat filed the lawsuit this week on behalf of personal representatives of the two Chastain brothers and Sparks.
It accuses Joseph Kennedy of having wrongfully caused the homicide victims' deaths, creating burial expenses, mental pain, anguish, grief and the loss of companionship for both his clients and the men's relatives. Each of the plaintiffs seeks at least $75,000 in actual and punitive damages.
On Tuesday, Seacat said he filed the lawsuit now because it appears Kennedy and his estranged wife, Sandra Jean Kennedy, are acting to protect their jointly owned assets from potential financial risks posed by legal actions like his.
"Typically, I like to wait until investigations have been completed, the criminal cases have panned out and prosecutors have gotten their convictions," Seacat said. "But in this case, we got information that the Kennedys were liquidating their assets, and so that made us have to move quickly."
What prompted attorney, clients to file lawsuit this week
The petition Seacat filed Tuesday states Kennedy and/or his wife sold a Dumpster business they owned and operated to D.C. Hauling in Morris, Oklahoma, in October.
It also states the divorce petition Sandra Jean Kennedy filed against her husband the day after he was arrested requests for her to be awarded all rights, title and interest in properties they jointly acquired in Okmulgee County and McIntosh County over the decades they were married.
"Plaintiff verily believes there will be no insurance policy that would provide coverage for plaintiff's losses and damages, and that any damages awarded to them will only be funded by the execution of the judgment upon and the liquidation of the defendant's assets, including but not limited the real property owned by them," the lawsuit stated.
But Blaine Frierson, the attorney representing Sandra Jean Kennedy, said late Tuesday Seacat's petition was filed prematurely.
He said his client had no direct involvement in the Dumpster sale it refers to, adding that Joseph Kennedy had made that deal before the homicide victims disappeared on Oct. 9.
He also said the deal only had involved a limited number of containers, according to his client.
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"My client expresses her condolences to all victims of these horrendous crimes. Unfortunately, there was a civil case filed in Okmulgee County District Court that contains patently false allegations," Frierson said.
"Nothing about my client in the petition is true, as time will tell. We deny each and every allegation therein, and demand strict proof thereof," he said.
No additional criminal filings made against Kennedy, records show
As of Tuesday, no new criminal related filings have been made against Joseph Kennedy since Oct. 18, when Okmulgee County District Attorney Carol Iski requested an acceleration hearing for Kennedy.
After pleading guilty to a felony charge of assault and battery in March 2013, Kennedy had received a 10-year deferred sentence that required him to stay in Oklahoma unless he received prior permission to leave, among other things.
Iski told a judge that Kennedy's arrest in Florida violated that provision and asked that Kennedy be sentenced immediately for violating terms of his earlier release.
The judge issued a warrant for Kennedy's arrest, setting bail at $500,000.
Attempts to reach Iski or Okmulgee's police chief on Tuesday were not successful.
Meanwhile, Joseph Kennedy remained in custody Tuesday at the jail in Daytona Beach, Florida, held on a fleeing from justice charge, along with another accusing him of felony grand theft.
Seacat said Tuesday that Kennedy's actions after the bodies' discoveries are what led his plaintiffs to believe he was involved in what happened to the victims.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Wrongful death suit filed against person of interest in Okmulgee case
