'Person Of Interest' In Gruesome Oklahoma Quadruple Homicide Arrested In Florida: Police

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, FL — An Oklahoma man who is a person of interest in a quadruple homicide and dismemberment case was taken into custody more than 1,000 miles east of the crime scene in Florida, police said.

Joseph L. Kennedy, 67, was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores, where he was in a vehicle that had been reported stolen Monday from the area of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, according to police. Kennedy was booked Tuesday into the Volusia County jail in Florida on charges of vehicle theft and being a fugitive from justice, police said. A warrant for his arrest has been issued in Okmulgee County in connection with a 2012 case related to a shooting, according to police, who noted the bond on the warrant is $500,000.

The homicides in which Kennedy is a person of interest are those of Okmulgee residents and close friends Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, and Alex Stevens, 29, who on the evening of Oct. 9 left a home in the city on bicycles and were reported missing overnight, police said. Law enforcement believes the men planned to commit a crime when they departed the residence.

Authorities searched for days, and on Friday, body parts were seen protruding from the Deep Fork River near Okmulgee, according to police, who on Monday verified all four men had been shot and dismembered, with their remains thrown into the river — likely on Oct. 9 or Oct. 10.

Kennedy owns multiple salvage yards in Okmulgee, which adjoin a property where law enforcement believes a violent event occurred, police said. Authorities spoke to Kennedy on Friday, according to police, who said he was cooperative and denied knowing the four men. However, he was reported missing Saturday night, and on Monday, his vehicle was found behind a business in Morris, one town over from Okmulgee, according to police.

Anyone with information about the deaths is asked to call police at 918-756-3511 or email tips@okmcity.net.