Joel Guy Jr. took extreme action so he could be a student forever
Thanksgiving weekends are full of traditions.
Tables ladened with turkey dinners, homemade cornbread and pumpkin pies. But most of all, it’s a time of year known for bringing families together.
In 2016, Joel Guy Sr. and his wife Lisa, were hosting their final Thanksgiving family gathering in their home in Knoxville, Louisiana. They had just sold their house and were moving to start a slower pace of life.
Joel, 61, was an engineer who was ready to retire.
The couple had been married for 31 years and they were looking forward to their golden years. They both shared a warm sense of humour and a love of nature, and the water, too.
As long as they were together, they were enjoying life.
On 24 November 2016, Joel Sr. and Lisa opened their home to Joel’s three grown up daughters from a previous relationship and their son Joel Jr.
Joel, then 26, had arrived the night after travelling from Baton Rouge where he had attended Louisiana State University.
He’d been a student there, taking college courses, for over a decade. Joel had never had a job and was being supported financially by his parents as he studied. Although that money supply was about to end.
Joel Sr. had told his daughters that the following month, when Joel was home for Christmas, that they were going to tell him that they weren’t going to support him for any longer.
Lisa had been a homemaker her whole life and only worked so she could send money to her son.
They recoiled at the foul smell
Joel Sr. had said to his daughter that it was time Joel stood on his own two feet.
The family celebrated Thanksgiving together on the Thursday and Joel returned back to Baton Rouge on Sunday.
Then on the Monday, Lisa didn’t turn up for her administration job and she wasn’t answering her phone. Her supervisor alerted the authorities and requested a welfare check.
Police went to the Guy’s home and entered through a garage door. Straight away, they felt an unusually high heat. The thermostat was set to an incredible 90o C.
As officers entered the house, many physically recoiled at the smell. It was a mix of chemicals and the stench of decay.
There were groceries strewn by the front door. Wallets left out on the side. Blood stains on the walls and the carpets. Piles of blood-soaked shredded clothes.
Then they saw a severed hand in the room upstairs that was used as a gym and the house became the most horrific crime scene the authorities had ever seen.
Trails of blood throughout the house led officers to the dismembered bodies of Joel Sr. and Lisa. It appeared that Joel Sr. had been stabbed to death first in an upstairs exercise room.
