https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-a...9817548-549f-11ed-b403-97843f62f2f1.htmlOkmulgee slayings: Victims' families file wrongful death suit against person of interest and his wife
updated Oct 26
Families of three of the four men found dismembered in Okmulgee County this month are suing the “person of interest” police have identified in the criminal case, along with his wife.
The wrongful death petition, filed Tuesday in Okmulgee County, alleges foul play associated with the timing of Joseph and Sandra Kennedy’s actions in relation to the disappearance and subsequent deaths of Billy Chastain, Mark Chastain and Mikel Sparks.
Okmulgee County authorities recovered the Chastains’ remains, as well as those of Sparks and Alex Stevens, from a river about a week after the four were reported missing.
Investigators believe the men left home with a plan to commit some kind of crime, possibly theft, and police reportedly discovered evidence of a violent event while searching a salvage yard owned by Joseph Kennedy.
Joseph Kennedy was arrested on an Oklahoma bench warrant in Florida last week after Okmulgee prosecutors alleged he violated the terms of a 2012 deferred sentence for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon by leaving the state. Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said last week authorities were working to transfer Joseph Kennedy back to Oklahoma.
The lawsuit filed by attorney Robert Seacat alleges that the Kennedys sold business assets in the days following the men’s disappearance, and that Sandra Kennedy pawned several firearms the week of Joseph Kennedy’s Florida arrest, including a gun that was registered to the wife of one of the victims.
Also the week of Joseph Kennedy’s arrest, Sandra Kennedy filed a petition for divorce in which she asked a judge to award her sole ownership of all the couple’s property.
The families’ lawsuit requests a temporary injunction against the transfer, encumberment or destruction of any and all property owned by the Kennedys as “it is apparent to Plaintiffs that these Defendants intend to defraud Plaintiffs in violation of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act,” the suit states.
The plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages in excess of $75,000 each, claiming Joseph Kennedy’s actions were “intentional and malicious” and “life threatening to humans.”
Joseph Kennedy has not been charged in the men’s deaths.
