Don Jacobs

don.jacobs@knoxnews.com

Family enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner unmarred by any discontent

Authorities allege son dismembered bodies after holiday, tried to dissolve in acid-like mixture

Joel Michael Guy Jr. drove up from his Baton Rouge, La., apartment last week to join his parents and three adult sisters for a last Thanksgiving dinner at the West Knox County home his parents had sold.

Afterward the sisters returned to their homes in Maryville and Kingsport. Everything seemed fine during the family gathering at 11434 Goldenview Lane, authorities said.

But sometime between Friday night and mid-day Saturday, the 28-year-old son attacked his parents with a knife, possibly tortured them and dismembered their bodies, leaving remains in various rooms of the 2,256-square-foot home, according to Knox County Sheriff's Office Maj. Michael K. MacLean.

"Joel placed pieces of the bodies in an acid-based solution in an attempt to destroy evidence," said MacLean, who commands the Major Crimes Unit at the Sheriff's Office.

The solution Joel Guy Jr. hoped would dissolve his parents' bodies, MacLean said, was composed of normal household chemicals and didn't require special knowledge of chemistry.

"It's the kind of thing you can get off the internet," MacLean said.

Joel Guy Jr. left the house unlocked and returned Sunday to his Baton Rouge apartment. He had driven his 2006 dark gray Hyundai Sonata on the holiday trip, MacLean said.

The former student at Louisiana State University was getting into that Sonata about 3 p.m. Tuesday outside his Nicholson Road apartment when two detectives from the Knox County Sheriff's Office, officers with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, agents with the Baton Rouge office of the FBI and "SWAT elements" pounced on him, MacLean said.

MacLean said detectives Monday had obtained two warrants charging Joel Guy Jr. with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his 55-year-old mother and his 61-year-old father. The FBI got involved in the case because MacLean sought a federal fugitive warrant.

MacLean said authorities also obtained search warrants for Joel Guy Jr.'s apartment and car. He would not say whether authorities had recovered weapons used in the attacks or tools employed to cut up the bodies.

"We hope to have Mr. Guy return to Knoxville soon," MacLean said.

MacLean said he was unsure of a motive, but Lisa and Joel Guy Sr. planned to discuss with their unemployed son during the holiday discontinuing his financial support. MacLean also said there is no indication the Guys had named their son as a beneficiary in any life insurance policies.

Authorities discovered "the gruesome scene" in the home about noon Monday, MacLean said. Lisa Guy's employer, Jacobs Engineering in Oak Ridge, had contacted the Sheriff's Office when she failed to show for work. MacLean said a patrol car was sent by the Goldenview Lane home, but the officer didn't see anything suspicious and nothing more was done.

Officials at Jacobs Engineering were unsatisfied with that response. MacLean said a company representative called the Major Crimes Unit and expressed concern.

"They indicated Lisa had set up a scheduled meeting that day that she would not miss," MacLean said.

This time, an officer peered into the windows of the home and saw evidence of a violent crime.

"It would be described as horrific, a very gruesome crime scene," MacLean said.

Officers found clear signs of a struggle in the home.

MacLean would not go into details of the attack, but he noted Joel Guy Jr. "would not be able to overpower his father."

Lisa and Joel Guy Sr. were last seen alive Friday when they moved a boat to a relative's house. The couple, MacLean said, were preparing to relocate to Rogersville, Tenn., to a home that had been in their family for years. They had moved into the Goldenview Lane house in 2007, but recently sold it. The home had been listed for sale for $237,500.

"The new owners actually came by while we were at the home," MacLean said.

Forensics officers worked Monday and Tuesday to remove evidence and the chemical solutions from the residence.

Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones said his department intentionally withheld from the public any information about the killings because any release would have harmed the investigation. He said he used the same logic in withholding information about the discovery Nov. 21 of the shooting of Emma Walker, a Central High School student found dead in her home.

"It would have made it much harder to make arrests if we had released information on these cases," Jones said Wednesday. "It's clear these individuals were following social media."

Jones said serving justice outweighed informing the public about murders in the community as long as the community was not at risk.

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