Okmulgee County DA speaks out after charging Joe Kennedy with 4 counts of first-degree murder

OKMULGEE, Okla. — Warning: this article contains graphic updates from the investigation.

UPDATE, 12/5/2022: Okmulgee County District Attorney Carol Iski offered a detailed timeline following the arraignment of Joe Kennedy.

Officers from multiple agencies assisted with the investigation, which added to more than 1,000 manhours.

Autopsy results show that all four men were shot to death and severed at the waist. Both arms were removed from Mike Sparks.

Blood and personal items belonging to the men were found at Kennedy’s scrap yard.

Kennedy denied contact with the victims, but a woman who was dating Kennedy claimed that he admitted to killing the men because “he was tired of getting robbed.”

Iski said there is no evidence that Kennedy had help with the murders.


The Okmulgee County District Attorney has filed four counts of first-degree murder against Joe Kennedy.

Kennedy is accused of killing and dismembering four men in October. An affidavit states that Kennedy admitted to killing the men to a witness, because “the people were stealing from them.”

The bodies of Mark Chastain, Billy Chastain, Alex Stevens, and Mike Sparks were found in the Deep Fork River on Oct. 14.

Kennedy was arrested in Florida several weeks later, driving a stolen car.

Kennedy is due in court for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 12.