On November 26, 2016, 61-year-old Joel Guy Sr. and 55-year-old Lisa Guy were murdered and dismembered in their home in Knoxville, Tennessee. Their son, 28-year-old Joel Michael Guy Jr., was convicted of both killings in October 2020 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus four years; he was also convicted of abuse of a corpse.
Joel Guy Sr. was a pipeline engineering designer; Lisa Guy was a human resources accounts payable administrator at Jacobs Engineering in Oak Ridge. Their son had never held a job and remained financially dependent on his parents, attending Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and ostensibly training to become a plastic surgeon after one semester at George Washington University. The Guys had recently sold their Knoxville house and planned to retire to Surgoinsville, ending their son's support; he stood to receive a $500,000 life insurance payout if both parents died or went missing. On November 24, 2016, Guy Jr. and his three half-sisters gathered there for what became the house's last Thanksgiving.
Prosecutors presented evidence that the killings were premeditated, including a handwritten notebook in Guy Jr.'s backpack — called the "book of premeditation" at trial — outlining his plan to kill his parents and destroy their remains. Surveillance video showed him paying cash for supplies beforehand: muriatic acid and food-grade hydrogen peroxide from a Louisiana Ace Hardware on November 7; a bleach sprayer, extension cords, and a timer from Home Depot on November 18; a knife from Academy Sports on November 19; and plastic storage totes from a Knoxville Walmart on November 21.
On November 26, while his mother was grocery shopping, Guy Jr. attacked and killed his father with a knife in a second-floor exercise room, stabbing him at least 42 times. When Lisa Guy returned home and went upstairs, she was attacked and killed with a knife, stabbed at least 31 times, with nine ribs severed. Guy Jr. then dismembered both bodies: his father's hands were removed and left on the floor, and his mother's head was removed and placed in a pot left boiling on the stove. Both victims' limbs were disarticulated and, with their torsos, placed in bins of acid-based chemicals prosecutors called a "diabolical stew of human remains." Cut during the attack on his father, Guy Jr. later bought first-aid supplies at a Walmart before returning to Baton Rouge for treatment at a student clinic.
Lisa Guy's employer requested a welfare check after she failed to report to work. Knox County officers Steven Ballard and Jeremy McCord found the house apparently vacant, with groceries on the floor and heat and an odor from inside, and entered using a garage door opener from one of the Guys' cars. Inside, they found Joel Guy Sr.'s severed hands on the floor and both victims' remains dissolving in chemicals in a bathroom, with a pot still boiling on the stove. Investigators recovered corrosive chemicals, cleaning supplies, and a note referencing the Louisiana hardware store; a hazmat team removed the hazardous materials. Guy Jr. was placed under surveillance and apprehended in a Baton Rouge parking lot on November 29, 2016; a meat grinder was found in his car's trunk.
Guy Jr. pleaded not guilty but filed a motion asking to be sentenced to death if convicted; his defense presented no evidence at trial. After a four-day trial, he was found guilty of both murders and of abuse of a corpse, and was sentenced in October 2020. An appeal to overturn his sentence was denied in 2023. He is incarcerated at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee.
Guy Jr. is recorded on surveillance camera buying muriatic acid and food-grade hydrogen peroxide, paid for in cash, at an Ace Hardware store in Napoleonville, Louisiana.
2016-11-18
Guy Jr. is recorded on surveillance camera buying a bleach sprayer, extension cords, and a timer at a Home Depot.
2016-11-19
Guy Jr. is recorded on surveillance camera buying a knife at an Academy Sports store.
2016-11-21
Guy Jr. is recorded on surveillance camera buying blue plastic storage totes at a Walmart in Knoxville.
2016-11-24
Guy Jr. and his three half-sisters attend a Thanksgiving gathering at the Guys' Knoxville house, the last event held there before its planned sale.
2016-11-26
While his mother is out grocery shopping, Guy Jr. attacks and kills his father, Joel Guy Sr., with a knife in a second-floor exercise room, stabbing him at least 42 times.
2016-11-26
Lisa Guy returns home from grocery shopping and is attacked and killed with a knife upstairs, stabbed at least 31 times; Guy Jr. dismembers both parents' bodies and places their remains in bins of dissolving chemicals.
2016-11-26
At approximately 3:30 p.m., Guy Jr. is seen in the first-aid section of a Walmart obtaining bandages, ointment, isopropyl alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide for cuts sustained during the attacks.
2016-11
After Lisa Guy's employer requests a welfare check when she fails to report to work, Knox County officers discover the crime scene, including both victims' dismembered remains and a notebook detailing the plan.
2016-11-29
The FBI, Knox County Sheriff's Office, and East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office apprehend Guy Jr. in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana apartment complex parking lot; a meat grinder is found in the trunk of his car.
2020-10
Following a four-day trial, Guy Jr. is convicted of both murders and of abuse of a corpse, and is sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus four years' imprisonment, with a 106-year non-parole period.
2023
An appeal seeking to overturn Guy Jr.'s sentence is denied.
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Joel Guy Jr. | Mental Health & Personality
People
Jeremy McCord
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Knox County Sheriff's Office officer who responded to the welfare check and helped discover the crime scene.
Joel Michael Guy Jr.
CONVICTED
Son of the victims; convicted in October 2020 of murdering and dismembering both parents and of abuse of a corpse; sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus four years, with a 106-year non-parole period. An appeal of his sentence was denied in 2023.
Steven Ballard
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Knox County Sheriff's Office officer who responded to the welfare check and helped discover the crime scene.
Joel Guy Sr.
VICTIM
61-year-old pipeline engineering designer; killed by his son with a knife in the family's Knoxville home on November 26, 2016, and dismembered.
Lisa Guy
VICTIM
55-year-old human resources accounts payable administrator at Jacobs Engineering; killed by her son with a knife in the family's Knoxville home on November 26, 2016, and dismembered.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
On November 26, 2016, 28-year-old Joel Michael Guy Jr. murdered and dismembered his parents, Joel Guy Sr., 61, and Lisa Guy, 55, in the family's Knoxville, Tennessee home. He was convicted of both murders and of abuse of a corpse in October 2020 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus four years.
Where did the murders happen?
Knoxville, Tennessee.
Who was convicted?
Joel Michael Guy Jr. (Son of the victims; convicted in October 2020 of murdering and dismembering both parents and of abuse of a corpse; sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus four years, with a 106-year non-parole period. An appeal of his sentence was denied in 2023.).
