Shawnee police launched a homicide investigation Friday morning after a man’s body was found inside his home. By mid-afternoon, police had arrested the man’s stepson on murder and arson complaints.
The murder victim, identified as Marty Lee Jones, 45, suffered multiple stab wounds in the assault, said Shawnee Police Chief Russell Frantz.
His stepson, Joseph M. Neay, 22, was arrested Friday afternoon and jailed in the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center, Frantz said. Formal charges have not been filed.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html
Frantz said a postal carrier delivering mail reported smoke coming from the house at 709 E. 11th just before 10 a.m. Shawnee firefighters responded to the house fire, where they found a body inside that home, the chief said.
Frantz, who said it was more of a smoldering-type fire, said damage from the fire was minimal inside the home, but police quickly sealed off the area and began a homicide investigation based on evidence found at the scene. Along with the assault and stab wounds, the body was partially burned, Frantz said.
At the onset of the probe, Frantz said investigators believed a fire was set in attempts to cover up the death. Police were questioning two persons of interest in the case within a few hours of the discovery of the body, and by mid-afternoon, had arrested Neay.
Frantz, who said Neay does not reside at the same home as Jones, said in addition to working the crime scene at the residence, officers obtained a search warrant late Friday to search Neay’s residence, located in the area of Philadelphia and 11th streets. Authorities also searched the railroad tracks off Highland Street Friday afternoon.
The chief confirms that police have recovered a knife that is believed to be the possible murder weapon.
A domestic-related issue may be a factor in this case, but Frantz said the investigation was ongoing Friday night as detectives were still interviewing possible witnesses.
The state medical examiner also will perform an autopsy on Jones to determine cause of death.

BROOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A central Michigan pastor accused of beating and strangling a neighbor to fulfill a sexual fantasy was engaged to the victim’s mother and had asked church members to pray for the young woman before police found her body, a friend said Friday.

Ex-convict John D. White told investigators that after killing 24-year-old Rebekah Gay in her trailer in rural Isabella County early Wednesday, he hid her body in nearby woods then returned to the trailer to dress her 3-year-old son in a Halloween costume, ready for the boy’s father to pick him up.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

White told investigators he repeatedly struck Gay’s head with a mallet then strangled her with a zip tie, according to the Isabella County sheriff’s office. He said he stripped her but does not remember if he carried out his fantasy of having sex with Gay’s dead body.

“We are all absolutely floored,” said Donna Houghton, 76, who had a role in hiring White to be pastor at the 14-member Christ Community Fellowship three years ago. She said she protested his innocence until she heard he had confessed.

“Then he had no leg to stand on,” she told The Associated Press.

White led investigators to Gay’s body in a wooded area a half-mile away from the trailer park and later Wednesday was charged with first-degree murder. He remained jailed without bond on Friday.

Gay and White lived in the same trailer park in Broomfield Township, 85 miles northwest of Lansing, and White was engaged to Gay’s mother who was a regular at his Sunday sermons, Houghton said. She said the pastor often watched Gay’s son while she was at work.

White “really liked this young man,” Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said.

Houghton said that before White was arrested he had called her to ask that she contact other church members and start a prayer chain for Gay, who was still missing at the time.

“He was pretty shook up. He said the police were giving him a hard time,” Houghton said.

She said the tiny congregation was aware of White’s criminal past when he joined the church. He was released from prison in 2007 after serving nearly 12 years for manslaughter in the death of a 26-year-old woman in Kalamazoo County, according to the state Corrections Department.

White also was sentenced to probation for choking and stabbing a 17-year-old Battle Creek girl in 1981.

“He was absolutely contrite,” Houghton said. “All kinds of people turn around and meet the Lord and they are a different person. He was doing a lot of good in the community. … He was doing a lot of good and Satan did not want him doing good, and Satan got to him.”

More than two years after a Madison County couple went missing, their families will finally have some closure. Sonsaray Warford and Charles Walker will both be buried in the next ten days. The two men who police say killed and tortured them are waiting for trial.

A roadside cross is the only memorial for Warford and Walker. It’s the only marking where family can pay their respects, where they’ve held vigils, and left messages of love.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

It’s been a painful place too; a reminder of how the couple suffered. In March, police found their bodies just a few yards away.

Now, the families are ready to let go of some of that pain.

“Now that we have him, we’ll be able to give him the closure that he needs,” says Amy Burbridge, who is Walker’s aunt.

The bodies of Warford and Walker have been returned to their families, nearly two and a half years after they were last seen.

“When we got him back, the emotions started all over again. And now we’re getting ready to bury him, and the emotions are starting over again,” Burbridge says.

Sonsaray will be buried Saturday, November 3. Walker will be buried a week later on November 10, so friends and family can attend both funerals.

“It’s going to be be hard. It’s going to be very hard. His mother, she’s not doing well at all,” Burbridge says.

This week is about reflecting on two lives that ended too soon. But after Warford and Walker are laid to rest, the fight in the courtroom will continue. In August, Matt Denholm and Daniel Keene will stand trial, accused of kidnapping and killing the couple.

“Every hearing, every time they’re in court, we’re going to be right there,” Burbridge says.