OKMULGEE, Okla. — A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a person of interest and his wife by the family members of three of the four men who disappeared and were later found dead in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, earlier this month.
According to KOKI, the lawsuit was filed by Megan Gordon, Jessica Chastain and Karen Sparks on behalf of their deceased relatives, Billy Chastain, Mark Chastain and Mike Sparks. The women are listed as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit was filed Tuesday morning.
The lawsuit alleges that the person of interest who was identified by law enforcement as Joseph “Joe” Kennedy and his wife, Sandra Kennedy, “knowingly caused the death of Billy Chastain, Mark Anthony Chastain and Mikel Tyrel Sparks” earlier in October.
According to the lawsuit obtained KOKI, the plaintiffs are seeking damages “in an amount of excess of $75,000 each.”
The four men had left a house in Okmulgee on bicycles on Oct. 9, The Associated Press reported. Their bodies were discovered on Oct. 14, having been shot and dismembered.
Okmulgee police named local salvage yard owner Kennedy as a person of interest. He was reported missing a day before but was found in Florida driving a stolen car, according to KOKI.
The lawsuit alleges that Kennedy’s wife, Sandra, had filed for divorce from him in order to avoid “being found civilly liable in the men’s death,” according to the lawsuit obtained by KOKI. The divorce was filed on Oct. 19, which was the same day Kennedy was located and arrested in Florida, according to court records obtained by KOKI.
The court records for the divorce mentioned that Kennedy and his wife, Sandra, had bought multiple “parcels of real property in Okmulgee and McIntosh counties,” and the interest and titles should be given to her, per KOKI.
The lawsuit also accuses Kennedy and Sandra of selling all of their assets of a business they owned and operated after the four men were reported missing. It was just before Joe went missing, according to the lawsuit obtained by KOKI. The lawsuit also alleges that Sandra sold multiple guns to a pawn shop in the area. According to KOKI, the lawsuit says at least one of the guns that she sold off belonged one to one of the wives of the four deceased men.
According to KOKI, the lawsuit also asked the Okmulgee District Court to prevent Kennedy and his wife from “taking any action that could put the case in jeopardy.”
The court sustained the request for a temporary injunction on Tuesday, according to KOKI. However, a hearing for the temporary injunction is set for Nov. 4.
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