By Bryn Fawn
Parents nurture and guide their children. They assist them into adulthood, where they then leave the nest and make their own family. However, trust and love are something so easily taken advantage of.
Joel Guy Jr. was born in 1988, with a good upbringing. He grew up with two sisters. Everything Guy could ever want was provided to him by his parents. He had electronics, games and plenty of enriching toys.
Guy graduated from Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in 2006, but never used his degree. He never obtained a job and instead remained living with his parents. His two sisters, however, grew up and moved out, having their own families. Guy’s parents provided everything he needed, even now as an adult with a degree.
Guy was described as abrasive and a loner, but was doted on by his mother, Lisa Guy.
Yet, Lisa and Joel wanted to retire. They had done their time with the 9-5 toil, and made plans to shift to their golden years. Lisa and Joel sold their home in Knoxville, Tennessee, purchasing a new home in Surgoinsville, Tennessee.
However, with retiring, Lisa and Joel could never afford to continue to pay for their son. They informed Guy of this, telling him he needed to find employment and a place to live.
Lisa and Joel planned to have one last family gathering in the childhood home for their children. It would be Thanksgiving of 2016. Guy, his sisters and his parents gathered and had a lovely dinner. If only they were aware of the horrors to come.
Only two days later would Hell become a reality for the Guy family. Guy would murder and mutilate both of his parents Nov. 26.
Guy attacked his father first, ambushing him from behind with a knife. The attack took place upstairs, in the home’s fitness room.
Guy knew he would be unable to overpower his father, thus attacking him from behind. Police found evidence of a struggle, with blood on the wall, torn curtains and a knocked over fitness machine. Joel lost the battle and his life.
Lisa was not home at the time. She was at Walmart, grocery shopping. When Lisa returned home, Joel was already dead, unbeknownst to her. She placed the groceries in the foyer, to be put away at a later time, and headed upstairs.
Guy then killed his mother, stabbing her several times. Lisa’s autopsy later revealed Guy had severed nine of her ribs.
What occurred next was truly diabolical. Guy dismembered his parents, cutting off his father’s hands at the wrists, leaving them in the fitness room. He disarticulated his parents’ arms and legs, separating the bones from the joints. His father had been stabbed at least 42 times, his mother at least 31.
Guy decapitated his mother, but he did not cut off her head. It was found in her autopsy that her head was broken off from the rest of her body. He then placed it in a pot, leaving it to boil on the stovetop.
Guy then went to Walmart himself, purchasing chemicals and medical supplies as he had been injured in the scuffle with his father.
A wellness check was made by police, after Lisa’s coworkers grew worried when she did not show up for work, her last day before retirement. What the police found was recorded by bodycams.
The first thing police noticed was how bizarre the home appeared. A “for sale” sign was in the front lawn, but groceries were obviously laid out on a counter and even on the floor. They also noticed a strong chemical stench emitting from the home and a lot of heat.
When they entered the house, a dog could be heard whining upstairs. They discovered the thermostat had been set to 90 degrees. They found a table with Lisa and Joel’s wallets, sledgehammer and guns on top. Then they discovered the pot that had Lisa’s head stewing.
Police then went upstairs, discovering the dog locked in a bedroom. Police could not rescue the dog immediately, as they had to sweep the home to ensure the threat was gone. The dog did end up surviving, however.
In the bathroom, the police found two large blue storage tubs. Inside were the bodies of Lisa and Joel in a bath of a homemade acidic solution. Police then found several chemicals, and Lisa’s clothing that had been cut off.
Police were unsure of the motive or perpetrator. That is, until they found Guy’s left-behind notebook. It detailed tools he wished to use, why he had increased the heat of the home — to quicken decomposition — and why he had to murder both of his parents.
Guy was arrested three days later. He pleaded not guilty, but requested to be given the death penalty if he was found guilty in the trial. The trial took place over four days. Guy was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abuse of a corpse. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he resides today.
His motive for murder? Money. He would have gained $500,000 in life insurance from his mother had he not been so messy in the murder. Guy never wanted to work a day in his life and was enraged his parents were taking that away from him.
He had been coddled by his mother, which was her downfall. If he had been forced to become an adult, join the “real world,” perhaps Lisa and Joel Guy would be alive today.
This edition of Cardinal Sins has been turned into a web-episode and can be seen on our Youtube Channel here.
