The Bowling Green man accused of murdering his wife and her parents in Butler County will face the death penalty.
On Monday, Butler County Commonwealth Attorney Blake Chambers filed a notice to seek the death penalty for 32-year-old Joseph Michael Carey, according to a report by the Bowling Green Daily News.
Carey was arrested on the morning of January 19 after Kentucky State Police was notified by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office that three people were found shot to death at a residence at 88 Lonnie Snodgrass Road, just off Hwy 79 about six-and-a-half miles inside Butler County.
Through the course of the investigation, KSP detectives determined that 63-year-old Lupe V. Mcgranahan, 79-year-old Charles W. Mcgranahan and Joseph Carey’s wife, 30-year-old Angela R. Carey, all of Morgantown, had been shot multiple times with a 9mm handgun.
All three victims were pronounced dead at the scene by the Butler County Coroner’s Office.
Angela Carey’s three children were in the home at the time of the shooting (two of the children are Joseph Carey’s), but were unharmed.
According to the newspaper, KSP Detective Shae Foley testified at Carey’s preliminary hearing on Tuesday that the suspect confessed to several law enforcement officers that he shot and killed the three victims. Foley estimated the suspect fired the handgun 30 times while committing the murders.
He initially confessed to the murders to a Butler County constable, who was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the scene.
Court testimony revealed that Carey had been served with divorce papers in December 2020.
The Daily News reports that KSP detectives testified that Carey, only days before the murders, “met with a psychiatrist at an area hospital” while being screened “on another matter, and doctors determined that he was not a risk for suicide or to harm others.”
The case was sent to a Butler County Grand Jury for indictment.
Carey is being held in the Butler County Detention Center where he’s been charged with three counts of murder and three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. He was originally given a $1 million bond, but with the notice of intent to seek the death penalty filed, the suspect is now being held without bond.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
