The person recognized as a "particular person of curiosity" within the grotesque killings of 4 males in Oklahoma final week made his first court docket look on unrelated expenses in Volusia County, Florida, on Wednesday.
Joe Kennedy, 67, is accused of being a fugitive of justice and of grand theft motorcar.
Kennedy, sporting a masks and an orange jumpsuit and shackled on the wrists and ankles, stood beside his public defender as the fees have been learn.
The choose ordered Kennedy to be held with out bond within the curiosity of "public security" however suggested his lawyer may file to request bond and/or to waive extradition again to Oklahoma.
Kennedy solely spoke as soon as throughout the transient listening to, after the choose requested him his identify quite a few occasions with out a response, Kennedy replied, "I do not hear too good."
Kennedy has not been named a suspect within the deaths of the 4 males. Police haven't defined why he's an individual of curiosity in that case.
The court docket look comes every week after the 4 males – Mark Chastain, 32; Billy Chastain, 30; Mike Sparks, 32; and Alex Stevens, 29 – have been reported lacking after leaving Billy Chastain's residence in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, on bicycles the night of October 9, police have mentioned.
Days later, their our bodies, which had been shot and dismembered, have been present in a river outdoors Okmulgee, a metropolis of about 11,000 individuals roughly a 35-mile drive south of Tulsa.
Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice described it as a "very violent occasion," as he introduced Monday the lacking individuals case had became a homicide investigation.
What's subsequent within the investigation
Whereas it stays unclear precisely what led as much as the boys's deaths, it seems they have been planning to commit a criminal offense once they left Billy Chastain's residence, Prentice mentioned.
That perception relies on "data equipped by a witness who studies they have been invited to go together with the boys to cite, unquote, 'Hit a lick sufficiently big for all of them,'" the chief mentioned Monday in a information convention.
"That's frequent terminology for partaking in some sort of felony habits, however we have no idea what they have been planning or the place they deliberate to do it," he added.
Because the investigation continues, the invention of the dismembered our bodies has raised extra questions.
Detectives, who haven't recovered the firearm used within the killings, are contending with the tough process of combing via the river.
All 4 our bodies discovered within the river "have been submerged in water for what seems to be an prolonged time frame," Prentice beforehand advised CNN.
That meant that the coroner confronted higher problem figuring out the our bodies and police face a sophisticated investigation on the river, which "seems to be a dump website," the chief mentioned.
"Water at all times impacts decomposition, and relying on temperature, relying on the present move, there's lots of various factors that try this," Prentice mentioned throughout a information convention Monday.
"Every time water is concerned, it makes it rather more tough to establish proof."
Prentice mentioned investigators must be extra methodical as they sift via the water "as a result of it is really easy to overlook proof."
The chief mentioned he is by no means labored on a case with so many dismembered our bodies, and it took a number of days to get well all of the stays.
"Though the official trigger and method of demise remains to be pending, every sufferer suffered gunshot wounds," Prentice mentioned. "All 4 our bodies have been dismembered earlier than being positioned within the river."
Because the investigation continues, the chief mentioned the division requested extra video surveillance from companies within the space and continues to comply with up on recommendations on completely different sightings.
As of Monday, police had not recovered any bicycles the boys have been using once they left the house, the chief mentioned.
Police have location knowledge from the boys's telephones
After the boys have been reported lacking, police mentioned they believed at the least two of them have been carrying cell telephones.
Investigators traced the telephones' path, discovering the gadgets went to 2 salvage yards –one about 8 kilometres from the river, and the opposite about 16 to 19 kilometresfrom the river, Prentice advised CNN Saturday.
He cautioned that the telephones' paths did not essentially must be the trail that the boys traveled.
Police later discovered "proof of a violent occasion" on a property adjoining a kind of areas, the chief mentioned with out elaborating.
Kennedy, the particular person of curiosity within the case, is the proprietor of the salvage yards, the chief mentioned.
Police have mentioned Kennedy denied realizing the boys and he appeared cooperative with investigators throughout an interview Friday afternoon.
However the chief later introduced Kennedy had gone lacking. Two days later, Kennedy was arrested in Daytona Seashore Shores in a automobile reported stolen Monday, Okmulgee Police mentioned.
In accordance with the arrest warrant in Florida, he was reported as a lacking particular person, however Kennedy advised officers he was not a lacking particular person and was not in any hazard.
Household 'shocked' on the violent nature of the killings
Jon Chastain, the uncle of Mark and Billy Chastain, advised CNN their household was "shocked," "outraged," and full of "heartbreak" when police introduced the brothers, together with their two pals, have been discovered murdered and dismembered.
Chastain mentioned he couldn't envision his nephews doing something to warrant a lot violence.
Mark was the daddy of two youngsters, and Billy had 4 youngsters. Chastain described them as arduous employees and good fathers who beloved their households.
"No matter was occurring, I do not know. However what I do know is we'd like some justice for this," Chastain mentioned.
Mark Chastain's spouse, Jessica Chastain, advised CNN affiliate KOKI she reported her husband lacking the day he disappeared. Now, she says although her husband's demise nonetheless does not really feel actual, she is concentrated on getting justice for him.
"Finally the reality will come out. Finally," she mentioned.