A 53-year-old Indiana man has been sentenced to 126 years in prison for fatally shooting his ex-wife and adult son before setting their bodies on fire inside a house in what the judge described as an execution-style killing meant to hide the crime.
Gibson County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Meade handed down the maximum sentence to Michael R. Kegg Jr. for the deaths of his ex-wife, 51-year-old Malisa Kegg, and his 34-year-old son, Michael Kegg III.
Court records show Kegg received 64 years for murdering his son and 62 years for murdering his ex-wife, with the terms to be served one after the other. Prosecutors said the punishment means he will spend the rest of his life in state prison, according to People.
Authorities said firefighters discovered the bodies after responding to a house fire on East State Road 64 in Francisco on Dec. 31, 2024. The victims were found inside the burned home, with one body near a can of accelerant in the kitchen and the other in the living room. Investigators later determined that both Malisa and her stepson had been shot in the chest before the fire was started.
Autopsies confirmed gunshot wounds as the cause of death, and investigators concluded that the blaze was deliberately set to cover up the killings. Officers recovered a .410-gauge shotgun and three spent shotgun shells at the scene, along with evidence that flammable liquid had been poured on the bodies. Court documents also noted that Kegg III had cuts on his scalp, suggesting there had been a violent struggle before he was shot, Yahoo News.
Prosecutors said the murders took place just two weeks after Kegg and Malisa attended a divorce hearing and amid financial tension. The day before the fire, Kegg went to town officials and demanded that water service be shut off at Malisa's home, saying he was tired of paying her utility bills. Witnesses later described him as angry and upset about money and the end of the marriage.
Kegg's then-wife, Amanda Kegg, is also charged with two counts of murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for allegedly helping plan and carry out the attack. Investigators say she drove him to the home while he left his phone behind to avoid being tracked, and her trial is scheduled for November, as per Law and Crime.
