Joe Kennedy: Scrapyard owner named person of interest in murders of 4 Oklahoma men arrested
Update: Joe Kennedy is in custody. He was arrested in a stolen vehicle that was reported stolen to the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office on the 17th. He was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores Florida.Additionally, a warrant has been issued for his arrest in Okmulgee County District Court on case number CF-2012-28 for Application to Accelerate a Judgement and Sentence he received in relation to a shooting in 2012. The bond for that warrant is $500,000.The District Attorney and the Sheriff will begin the process of getting Kennedy back to Okmulgee County. The murder investigation is ongoing and investigators continue to follow leads every day. Additional information will be relayed when it is available.
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OKMULGEE, OKLAHOMA: According to police, four close friends who vanished in Oklahoma while on a weekend bike ride were killed in a "violent" shooting at a junkyard, dismembered, and dumped in a river. Joe Kennedy, the owner of the scrapyard, has been identified as a person of interest in the quadruple murder as per Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice who said at a news conference on Monday, October 17. Kennedy cooperated with the police on Friday night and said he didn't know the four victims, according to Chief Prentice, reported DailyMail.
The 67-year-old Joe Kennedy is the owner of several scrap yards in the region. He hasn't been identified as a suspect in the investigation, but neither has he been found. According to reports, the scrapyard owner vanished mysteriously on Saturday and is possibly suicidal. The chief urged the public to report any sightings of him. Friends Mark Chastain, 32, Mike Sparks, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, and Alex Stevens, 29 were on a weekend bike ride in Oklahoma on October 9. Investigators reportedly believe the friends were attempting to plan a crime before going missing. Prentice said, "We believe the men planned to commit some kind of criminal act when they left the resident on West 6th Street."
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Kennedy has a significant criminal past, according to a Facebook post by News On 6 journalist Lori Fullbright. According to The Oklahoman, Kennedy is on a 10-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty to assault and battery with a deadly weapon in 2012. He revealed to the sheriff's deputies that he had shot one of the six alleged burglars he had caught at one of his salvage yards. The others ran away.
As per Fullbright, The person-of-interest Joe Kennedy, who mysteriously vanished on Saturday was also accused of attempting to receive stolen property in 1988. The journalist asked that anyone who saw him contact the Okmulgee police.
Okmulgee Police Department wrote on Facebook updating the sighting of Kennedy's vehicle. They wrote, "Joe Kennedy's blue PT Cruiser has been located and is in police custody. It was abandoned behind a business in Morris Oklahoma. Investigators are looking into how it came to be there." They said in the statement that currently, they have no vehicle information for the missing man.
Daily Mail reported that the first set of remains was discovered on Friday, and over the weekend, investigators came to the conclusion that the victims had been shot before being dismembered and dumped into the river. According to police, a bystander noticed something suspicious in the river close to a bridge. Prentice said that the bicycles have not yet been located. The chief stated, "All four bodies were dismembered before being placed in the river and that is what caused the difficulty in determining identity," Prentice said. "The river appears to be a dump site. Whenever water is involved it makes it much more difficult to identify evidence." He revealed, "The family members were upset. I think they had already resolved that this was their loved ones, but the additional information about dismemberment was obviously a shock, they were very distraught."
The news has come as a shock to the victims' families. Milissia Smith, grandmother of Mark and Billy has set up a GoFundMe page and wrote, "For those of you who know, Mark Anthony and Billy Jack Chastain are the definition of brothers and were always together. And for that, it only makes sense to have all this together. Mark leaves behind his wife, Jessica, and his two children, and Billy leaves behind his life partner Megan and their four children. The families are in great need of prayers and support right now."