Episode 20: Thanksgiving Horror: The Murders of Joel and Lisa Guy

It's Turkey Day! In Celebration of Thanksgiving, The Odder is having a special true crime episode. How does a fun family meal end in a pair of soulmates dismembered in acid? What is this we hear about a notebook full of plans and murder to-do lists? Come find out on The Odder Side!

Content Warning: Themes of murder and body dismemberment

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Music Credit:
"Lightless Dawn" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Main Theme:
"Dream Catcher" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

Episode 20: Thanksgiving Horror: The Murder of Joel and Lisa Guy

1. Hello and Welcome to The Odder podcast. I’m your host Madison Paige and today is the day of thanks! While most people gather around your roasting turkey, your mashed potatoes and your many iterations of pie, one was plotting a murder most foul! Today on The Odder we talk about the Thanksgiving Murders of Joel and Lisa Guy. So get your stretchy pants on and get ready for a food coma and lets go!
2. Happy Thanksgiving! To all my american followers that is. What a treat! An episode falls right on Turkey day, Gobble Gobble and all the good trimmings. I hope all my listeners are able to celebrate today in the way that makes them happiest. For the returning listeners, welcome back, for the new listeners, welcome welcome to The Odder podcast where we are a trailmix bag of all things unknown, unsolved, and just plain odd. For those listening on this holiday, go ahead and get yourself a second plate. For those listening on the way to a relatives house, don’t miss your exit and for those listening while putting the final touches on dinner, are you sure you’ve used enough salt? We have a special treat for you today! A Murder! Commited in the season of the bird. Now I do need to put some warnings on this episode, there will be mentions of murder, acid baths, and body dismemberment. If any of this is outside your comfort zone, hey no worries, grab yourself a scoop of stuffing and maybe listen to last weeks episode on the Winchester Myster House instead. For those of you continuing on this adventure with me, get good and comfy and get prepared as we go back to thanksgiving 2016.
3. Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness for most people. Families surround tables laden with feasts and decorative china. People gather to watch the Macy’s day parade, eat carbs until they feel they will explode and then settle in for the best damn nap their going to get all year. We unite, we gather, we bury torches, we put up with each other, and we reaffirm our place in the lives of those we hold close. And this is exactly what the guy family was doing on Thanksgiving 2016. 
4. Joel and Lisa Guy were a couple very much in love. They had a strong sense of family within their blended home. Joel had three daughters from a previous marriage to a woman named Patricia and after marrying Lisa in 1985 when his first marriage fell apart, they had a son who they named after Joel Sr but called Joel Michael. Lisa was thought of lovingly by her step daughters who said she was warm and always made sure their favorite food was in the cabinets when they came to stay. One of these daughters loved Lisa so much that her engagement ring was modeled on Lisa’s. They lived an idealistic life in a beautiful two story home in Knoxville, Tennessee. Joel was a pipeline engineer and Lisa was a human resource accounts payable administrator. 
5. Now this Thanksgiving was actually the last one the family was planning to spend in this house. Joel Sr’s mother had passed away and the couple had decided to sell their home and move into her property. This decision was made following the loss of Joel’s job. Deciding that 61 was too late to start over in the job markets, Joel and Lisa decided to instead retire and enjoy their golden years closer to family back in Joel’s hometown. The couple and daughter’s were all excited for this change in their life and looked forward to spending christmas in the new house. 
6. Thanksgiving arrived and the family had a great holiday. The whole family was involved and an upbeat atmosphere left everyone in a good mood. This, unfortunately, would not last.
7. Friday, November 25th was supposed to be Lisa’s last day at work before she retired. Now, Lisa was known to be very punctual. So when she did not arrive at work, her boss became concerned and attempted to contact her. Getting no answer, she then attempted to contact Joel. Again receiving no answer. Concerned, she then contacted the police to request a welfare check. The first check they made resulted in nothing unusual and reported back to her boss that while they received no answer, nothing was alarming. After trying once again to reach Lisa or Joel, another wellness check was called in. 
8. This time, horrors would be found.
9. Warning for those with a sensitive stomach as we are about to get into the nitty gritty. 
10. Detective’s Jeremy McCord and Steven Ballard were tasked with the second welfare check. Once again they knocked but received no answer. Noticing the for sale sign in the front yard, they found it strange that a lock box wasnt attached to the door. The lockbox would have been standard for a listed house to provide ease of access for the real estate agent. Peeking in the front window, detectives noticed that grocery were sitting in the front foyer. Among these groceries they noted Ice Cream, Bacon and other items that would not have been left sitting. 
11. Overcome with unease, The police rounded the back of the home and noticed something extremely odd. The doorknob had been removed from the back door and placed on the front door. They could feel heat emanating from the house along with an odd chemical smell. Alarmed,  officers opened one of the cars in the driveway and pressed the garage door opener giving them access to the house. 
12. Which side note - if you have a garage door opener, be aware that people can use that as a way to break into your house. Be safe out there. 
13. Upon entry to the house, the officers discovered the thermostat was set at 90 degrees. On the table, the found both Joel and Lisa’s wallets as well as a sledgehammer. Another table had long guns sitting atop. They passed the groceries they had spotted from outside and in the kitchen was a stockpot boiling on the stove.
14.  The chemical odor in the home was said to be so bad, the officers had a physical reaction to it. 
15. Climbing the stairway, they heard a dog barking and found the family dog locked in a bedroom. After securing the dog, police realized that down the hallway, they could see blood-splattered walls, large blood stains in the carpet, and shredded womens clothes. Entering a bedroom, police came upon a horrific scene. 
16. In the bedroom, police found a pair of severed male hands. In the bathroom, two bodies were found sitting in blue tubs filled with a concoction of acid. These would soon be determined to be the bodies of Joel and Lisa Guy. Horrifically, that stockpot boiling on the stove would later reveal to contain Lisa’s severed head. 
17. The clothing in the hall would be identified as Lisa’s and was seemingly cut off after her death. Along with the clothes, police would find sewer line cleaner, baking soda, Liquid Fire drain cleaner, lye, hydrogen peroxide, muriatic acid, bleach, and a bleach sprayer. A suitcase that had a note in it with the name of an Ace Hardware store, and a notation about sewer line cleaner were also located. The mixture of all these chemicals in an attempt to dissolve the remains left the house so noxious, investigators had to call in hazmat. 
18. An officer at the scene described it as the “most horrific thing he’d ever encountered in law enforcement, in life.”
19.  How did a loving couple on the cusp of retirement who had just the day before sat down to a feast with their families suddenly end dismembered? Who could commit a crime this heinous?
20. It would not take long for police to find a suspect. 
21. Joel Micheal Jr was not a man who felt the need to hold up his own weight. He graduated from the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in 2006 but had never been employed and was entirely supported by his parents. In fact, Lisa’s friends said she tirelessly worked only to give her son the entirety of her paycheck.
22. Joel Micheal spent one semester at George Washington University then attended Louisiana State University, where he was supposedly training to become a plastic surgeon. He was living in Baton Rouge in an apartment his parents paid for right up until the time of the murders.
23. Joel Sr had apparently had enough of financially supporting his son and told his daughter that the couple planned to cut him off after the holidays. It is unclear whether the couple ever got to inform Joel Micheal of this. 
24. During the investigation at the house, police noticed Joel Michael drive by. Their suspicions raised, they placed him under surveillance. Joel’s sisters would later also report strange behavior. Joel Michael was said to be reclusive even around his family. His sister’s reported that he would avoid family dinners, stay in his room during visits, and seemed entirely determined to keep to himself. However, Thanksgiving, he was out and amongst the family and seemed to be in high spirits. He had even given his nephews some of his old toys. This sudden change in character was alarming to the sisters but with lives and worries of their own they could not afford to dwell on it. 
25. The most damning of evidence would come in Joel Micheal’s own hand writing. 
26. In the course of investigating the house, police would discover a notebook. In this notebook, they would find notes and plans that Joel Micheal had jotted down on killing his parents. It would contain notes such as “does not matter where they're killed just get rid of bloody spots to prevent evidence of time of death (not the mattress or couches)” and “flush chunks down toilet not garbage disposal”. Joel Michael listed items, like a sledgehammer and “killing knives,” needed to murder his parents and a plan of where and when to kill them. He planned to use the sledgehammer to crush his parent’s bones. “Bring blender and food grinder,” the notes said. “Grind meat.” “Flush chunks down the toilet.” Later, Police would find receipts showing he had bought the chemicals at a Walmart in Knoxville. When his car trunk was opened in Louisiana after the arrest, he had a meat grinder in the trunk. In one note it said, “kill dog"; but that was crossed out and replaced by “Take the dog with you.” which he obviously didnt do. Other notes detailed his plans to make it appear as though Joel Sr killed his wife with notes like “Cut off his arm and plant his flesh under her fingernails. Place her hand with his DNA so that his DNA is not washed away by shower.” Now I have no claims to getting inside the mind of killers but I’d like someone to explain to me how a man can kill his wife and then dismember himself. If the plan here was the make it look like Joel Sr killed his wife and then commited suicide, he would need to be in one piece to make that passable. Joel Michael really thought he was all that and a bag of chips when he was making this plan and conveniently leaving this evidence at the murder scene. It would also shine a light on his motive.
27. I’m sure youre never going to guess it but the Guy’s were killed for their Life insurance policy. In his notebook, he listed his parents' assets in detail and his notes provide some insight as to how he would achieve gaining his parents' property to include life insurance, the Knoxville house, his grandmother’s house, car, SUV, boat, and an old truck. One note states “Her life insurance $500,00 (possibly more with double indemnity).” Other notes made additional references to even going after his half-sisters to get more. 
28. Backed by all this evidence, Joel Micheal Guy Jr. was arrested a day after the bodies were discovered and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, felony murder, and abuse of a corpse. His trial lasted four days and involved more than 700 pieces of evidence and 27 witnesses. During this trial, Prosecutors laid out what they believed to be the events leading up to the discovery of the bodies. 
29. Police believe the couple was killed sometime between Friday and mid-day Saturday. One note in the journal mentioned the possibility of using a rouse to get Joel Sr under the sink to fix an imaginary issue before Joel Micheal attacked. However, this did not come to fruition and it is instead believed that Micheal simply attacked his father when his mother was away from the house. 
30.  He suffered 42 stab wounds so brutal that 12 marks were left on his ribs that ranged from scratches to severing. The worst damage was caused to Guy Sr.’s lungs, kidneys, and liver. He also had an injury on his shoulder so severe, that a fragment of the weapon was deposited in the muscle. Then Guy Sr.’s hands were severed at the wrists, his arms severed at the shoulder, and legs removed at his hip. According to court records, his foot was severed at the ankle. After the murder, his clothing was cut off his body and left in a bloody pile on the floor.
31.  Lisa Guy was attacked after bringing in groceries. She was stabbed 31 times, causing 21 severe injuries and severed 9 of her ribs. Her clothing was cut off her body and left on the floor. Her arms were severed at the shoulder and her legs cut below the knees. 
32. Their bodies were placed in two 45-gallon containers with a mixture of drain cleaner, bleach, hydrogen peroxide, sewer line cleaner, and other chemicals trying to quickly dissolve their bodies in the homemade acid solution. 
33. Joel Michael was injured in this attack and was later captured on camera at walmart buying bandages and ointment. He would attempt to return to the scene to clean up his mess but by that time, police were already on scene. 
34. The crime scene was so unimaginable that state prosecutors would describe the discovery as a “diabolical stew of human remains.”
35. Guy Jr. was found guilty on all charges including two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree felony murder, and two counts of abuse of a corpse. According to Knox County Judge Sword, the jury found him guilty unanimously on all seven counts. The judge told Guy Jr. that he “thinks he’s smarter than he really is,” saying that the crime was committed in a very “unintelligent” way. Judge Sword said Guy Jr. showed no remorse for his actions during the trial and even appeared “proud” of his actions. He also said Guy Jr. has a “depraved mind” that would not change over time. Guy Jr. will not be eligible for release for 130 years. However, during sentencing Judge Sword said 300 years “isn’t enough time” to reasonably relate to what Guy Jr. did.
36. Joel Michael Guy Jr. is currently serving out his life sentence at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee.
37. He will be eligible for parole on January 24, 2136.
38. The victims family remembers them lovingly as soulmates. Their daughter Angela described her father as a great storyteller, and how she loved to go fishing with him, and how she was robbed of her father walking her down the aisle. Another Daughter, Tina, stated “Dad and Lisa were wonderful; they were larger than life. They were so happy. Such really good people—and they loved him. They loved him so much. They loved all of us,”. As if the death of Lisa and Guy were not enough, Lisa’s grandmother collapsed upon the news of her death and was rushed to hospital where she unfortunately died. There was not a life in the family that Joel Michael Guy Jr did not touch with his selfish greed. He was a lazy, self-centered child of man who killed the people who loved and supported him in an abhorrent manner and then left a check list of his inadequacy at the scene. He will remain in prison where he belongs for the rest of his days.
39. Well, that's all for this episode. So what do you think? What a creep, right? Why did he leave the notebook so conspicuous? Are you a canned cranberry person or a homemade cranberry sauce person? Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and leave a review. The Odder Pod may not be on twitter forever with what is going on with that but as I hardly use it, I don’t think it would be a major loss. The Odder Pod is now on TikTok. Come follow us there! Have a suggestion for a show? Send me an email at theodderpod@gmail.com with your request and whether you’d like me to mention your name, your alias, or nothing at all. Remember this is The Odder Side so give me something cool, creepy, or confusing to deep dive for you. If you liked the show, leave us a review! They really help! I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! The Odder Podcast posts every other Thursday. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time on The Odder side.