The Murder of Lydia Blanche Cassady | Part 3 of 4

The Murder of Lydia Blanche Cassady | Part 3 of 4

Carolyn gets the phone call that nobody should ever get.  Lydia is dead.

After Ken directed his children to leave and go to a friend’s house while he and Lydia argued, they heard one of Ken’s gun safes being opened as they left the house.

Hear Carolyn talk about arriving at the scene and meeting with the police and coroner’s office.

And Lydia’s murderer Ken, goes on the run with the U.S. Marshalls in pursuit.

We learn more about how life continues on in the wake of this act of evil, with visits from red cardinals and bumble bees.

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Transcript

00;00;01;18 - 00;00;19;20

Carolyn Hundley

He's like, Why don't you talk to that? CC And so I get the phone and I said, Hello. And he said, What do you asked me kind of same question, What are you doing? And I said, Well, you know, I'm headed headed back to Nicholls Ville, drop the kids off so I can get showers, get on the bus and go to school.

00;00;19;20 - 00;00;42;12

Carolyn Hundley

They got to go to school. And I said, well, where's like Lydia and Ken? And he said, They're gone. And I said, What do you mean they're gone? I said, I got their kids. What do you mean they're gone? Because I was really aggravated at that point, like how you gone. And he said, No, Carolyn, He said, She's dead and he's gone.

00;00;42;29 - 00;00;51;25

Carolyn Hundley

And I was like, What? That morning the podcast you're about to.

00;00;51;25 - 00;00;57;00

Wendy Lyons

Listen to may contain graphic descriptions of violent assaults, murder and adult language.

00;00;57;13 - 00;00;58;28

David Lyons

Listener discretion is.

00;00;58;28 - 00;01;09;14

Wendy Lyons

Advised. Welcome to the Murder Police podcast, The murder of Lydia Cassidy, Part three and.

00;01;25;26 - 00;01;44;19

Carolyn Hundley

Lydia and I always, which was just a big thing and it's always for my whole family is, you know, when we say our goodbyes, it's hugs and kisses. And I love you. And, you know, it's one of those things that you look back at. And when she walked out that door and we did that, it was just like one of those things that you go that was kind of an eerie, you know, remembrance of that's last time I saw.

00;01;45;22 - 00;01;53;28

Carolyn Hundley

So that was the last time I physically saw her. We talked every morning. So I have a 42 minute drive into Lexington. And so I always called.

00;01;54;13 - 00;02;01;00

Wendy Lyons

Me and Angie. I had a long drive to where I go. So yeah, and she did too. So that's just that's just what you do when you get in the car.

00;02;01;00 - 00;02;23;10

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah. And so I would call her every morning and I remember calling her that next morning on Monday, which was the third. I think that something like that, like it was like a couple of days before she, she had passed. And I remember going, what was that Twilight Zone? I'm like, what is going on? And she's like, Oh, he knows I'm leaving.

00;02;23;17 - 00;02;33;00

Carolyn Hundley

You know, I'm and I'm like, But, you know, all the things that you're doing are contradictory to what you're You had him cosign on. Yeah.

00;02;33;00 - 00;02;35;11

Wendy Lyons

What did she say, Why she did that.

00;02;36;00 - 00;02;48;08

Carolyn Hundley

Why he said he was going to do it and blah blah, blah. And I'm like, but I told you, Daryl and I would help you go get connected and all the things and, you know, it was just kind of those things. I think he was just trying to get more.

00;02;48;08 - 00;02;49;08

Wendy Lyons

One more thing.

00;02;49;08 - 00;03;15;26

Carolyn Hundley

One more. Yes. You know, And he she was like and like the week before, he'd taken her to Belle Terre, which of course, she's not a gambler, so she never goes gambling. And they don't I don't know if they've ever been to Bell tower by themselves like that. And, you know, and and if you look back at his posts on Facebook, you know, he was doing all these posts where they're like all lovey dovey and kisses and which they didn't do that anyways.

00;03;15;26 - 00;03;38;06

Carolyn Hundley

I mean, it's just so like, he's so twisted and bizarre. You just look at it, you go, Oh, my gosh, you know, just something else. And so I talked with her each morning. I talked with the morning that she died. Every morning we had talked and I kept saying to her, why, even on one of my texts, you know, Daryl kept saying she cannot.

00;03;38;06 - 00;03;59;28

Carolyn Hundley

I mean, I feel like Daryl could have written the story, you know, which is I think, why our grief was so traumatic. Yeah. As he kept saying, she can't lead him on. He is not right and he is not one to be fooled with, basically. And so I remember sending her that text one morning saying, look, don't lead him on, he's not right.

00;03;59;28 - 00;04;43;07

Carolyn Hundley

And she says, I know dot, dot, dot, you know. And so I just I think that morning which is are they all got up and they all went worked out at the gym and they dropped off his truck to get worked on and an auto body shop and he went on to work and everybody went to work and school and he got home, cooked a little dinner and why are my nephew comes home and Shirley is there.

00;04;44;19 - 00;04;55;13

Carolyn Hundley

So Shirley is there on the night that my sister was was killed. So she is there and she and Ken are just talking and kind of laughing.

00;04;55;13 - 00;04;56;03

Wendy Lyons

And Lydia was.

00;04;56;03 - 00;05;21;06

Carolyn Hundley

There at this. No, no, no, no. She's not home yet. And so they're there. And basically, Ken says to my nephew, Hey, go get your in your sister's school picture and give them to Shirley. And so it's very pleasant. Trees exchanges, the school pictures. He kisses on the cheek and says, I love you. And she leaves. The reason she was there is she had brought him home from work.

00;05;21;21 - 00;05;23;13

Wendy Lyons

Because the truck's a shop. Yeah.

00;05;24;05 - 00;05;50;29

Carolyn Hundley

So soon my sister and my niece arrive. I think everybody eats dinner and her and can go to get the truck from the auto body shop. And this is all about 530 ish happening. And so they come come back and I'm not sure I think there may have been some fighting going on as they were coming back in because I guess it started at that point.

00;05;50;29 - 00;06;20;14

Carolyn Hundley

Some fighting ensued, arguments, things like that I'm thinking were right around the 6:00 time frame at this point and arguments getting more heated, more elevated. And then at that point, Ken comes in to my nephew's room, swings open the door and says, You get your sister, you get in the truck and you go to your friend's house. Now, the friend's house is about a block away in the same neighborhood.

00;06;21;22 - 00;06;31;18

Carolyn Hundley

Reminder, my nephew doesn't have a license, so he's not legally supposed to be driving. Now he's grown up in the country riding and driving so he can drive.

00;06;31;21 - 00;06;35;07

Wendy Lyons

Why would he not just have them walk off its a block? Why would you put him in a car?

00;06;35;07 - 00;07;03;28

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, that's what he said. Get in the car and go take your sister. So as you know, as they're starting to leave and exit the house, which again we're, we're about a 1200 square foot home as they're starting to exit the house. They hear the safe can had to 60 gun safe units in my nephew's bedroom and they were loaded up with guns and ammo and silencers and you name it.

00;07;03;29 - 00;07;32;23

Carolyn Hundley

He was an avid gun collector. He was an avid hunter. My nephew, you know, kids older boys are also hunters, you know, So they had lots of guns and so they had heard the safe open. So I think at that point they thought, oh, my gosh, this is not this is not good. They left. I think they even drove maybe around the block, you know, But they were told to do something and they were going to do it because you didn't you did not do what daddy said.

00;07;33;07 - 00;07;50;11

Carolyn Hundley

And so they went to the friend's house. They were at a friend's house for less than 5 to 10 minutes, I mean, literally 5 to 10 minutes. And then he called my niece and said, you need to go down to the aunt and Uncle Daryl's and spend the night.

00;07;50;22 - 00;07;53;19

Wendy Lyons

King called his daughter and said, Go to your house.

00;07;53;19 - 00;08;17;22

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, you need to go down there. And I think maybe he may even said you'll let him know we're fighting or something like that. Basically, that's why you need to go. Yeah. So, you know, as they're leaving, they kind of pass one of the older boys in the mix, which I think I can had reached out to him to come over.

00;08;17;22 - 00;08;18;13

Wendy Lyons

Ken's older.

00;08;18;13 - 00;08;49;16

Carolyn Hundley

Boy. Yeah, yeah. Well, not the oldest, but the next older and had reached out to him to come come over I don't and basically I think money said it was to calm the situation down or whatever it may be so about I think I got the call at about anywhere around seven 650 7:00, 715 somewhere around there from my niece who's on Nicholas Hill Road and they're on their way to my house.

00;08;50;08 - 00;09;01;28

Carolyn Hundley

And it was Daddy sending us to you. They're fighting. And you know, it's just like, what? You know.

00;09;02;11 - 00;09;04;04

David Lyons

What's that hadn't happened before?

00;09;04;04 - 00;09;11;17

Carolyn Hundley

No, no. Now again, they are like, right around those last couple of months, there was a lot of arguments and fussing and fighting and stuff like that.

00;09;11;26 - 00;09;12;15

David Lyons

But nobody was.

00;09;12;24 - 00;09;29;00

Carolyn Hundley

But nobody's ever been sent to the house like that. So that was a lot. So, you know, I was like, okay, do we need to call the police? And my husband's sitting over here going, Yes, yes, we need to call the police. And, you know, you look at things and you just go, We we should have done what my husband said, you know, write that in there.

00;09;29;28 - 00;09;51;18

Carolyn Hundley

And about that same time that we're kind of having this debate on that is, you know, a friend of a friend had called because she was good friends with Lydia and she's like, what's going on? Like, what's happening? And because she knew that my niece, my niece had reached out to them and she's like, Well, do you think we should call the police?

00;09;51;18 - 00;10;09;24

Carolyn Hundley

And I'm thinking both. My husband's like, Yes, we should. I mean, like he's like, Yes, we should call police. And so she's like, well, you know, if we call the police, we'll never see these kids or Lydia again, basically. And she said, well, kind of worked it out where, hey, a friend of a friend was going to make a call.

00;10;10;08 - 00;10;13;10

Carolyn Hundley

Basically, that's what was going to happen. So that's how we went to bed.

00;10;13;22 - 00;10;17;01

Wendy Lyons

Thinking somebody's going to anonymously call or just say, just.

00;10;17;10 - 00;10;31;00

Carolyn Hundley

Hey, do a welfare check kind of thing. And I had texted her and said, Give me a call. And she didn't give me a call, which was not uncommon for her, not especially when he's around God.

00;10;31;00 - 00;10;32;06

Wendy Lyons

That's so much like.

00;10;32;06 - 00;10;35;03

Carolyn Hundley

Angie. You don't you don't call like when he's not around.

00;10;35;04 - 00;10;54;05

Wendy Lyons

You can't. And she's like, you know, I texted her that evening as well, and she didn't answer me back. And I told him, I said, she's not answering probably because he's home tonight. Yeah. And, you know, and so that that's so bizarre that that same thing happened. But then you just think I'll talk to her in the morning when he's gone to work or when she can get away from you on her way to work.

00;10;54;05 - 00;11;14;18

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah. And about that time he had checked. Now, again, we didn't know this until after everything's done. But about that time, he'd just changed his Facebook profile picture to a really ugly picture of. I don't even know what the picture is. Like a wolf's holding on to the back of a woman's pants as she's running away. Kind of.

00;11;14;18 - 00;11;39;05

Carolyn Hundley

It's really twisted. And also, he had posted a video that's been since taken down for like bad content or whatever, but it was a video of like a pot boiling and like, pressure like kind of thing. Yeah. And he'd posted that and it was kind of like these people dancing around in this pot and the pot explodes kind of thing.

00;11;39;17 - 00;11;59;25

Carolyn Hundley

And I remember seeing on that like one of his buddies or something had like come in and on and going like, can question what like what's like it was just a really sick Yeah kind of it But again this was after we knew what had happened and he was notorious for changing his name a lot on Facebook. So he was never really Ken strange.

00;11;59;25 - 00;12;12;09

Carolyn Hundley

He was only that for a little while. And then it was Larry Dawn, which was my sister's, my mother's maiden name, and then his last, if you ever want to check out his name, it was like Larry Cassidy, you know, just tired.

00;12;12;09 - 00;12;12;27

Wendy Lyons

He do.

00;12;12;27 - 00;12;20;19

Carolyn Hundley

That. I think there was a lot going on. He had a lot going on, you know, whether it be the other ladies or things that were going.

00;12;20;19 - 00;12;22;02

Wendy Lyons

On, I wasn't really.

00;12;22;04 - 00;12;23;13

Carolyn Hundley

Thinking, You just don't know.

00;12;23;14 - 00;12;25;18

David Lyons

He could've been for calling people. He could have been in debt.

00;12;25;22 - 00;12;31;13

Wendy Lyons

But was he not thinking by posting pictures of he and Lydia these other ladies are going to see he's got someone.

00;12;31;17 - 00;12;46;18

Carolyn Hundley

Well, you would know because you wouldn't know his name, because he changed his name so you wouldn't be looking for you couldn't find him. If you're okay for constraint, you're not you're not going to see. Okay. Yeah, it's going to be a weirdo name that only his closest people know, right? So, yeah.

00;12;47;27 - 00;12;49;20

Wendy Lyons

So the children make it to your house.

00;12;49;20 - 00;13;10;25

Carolyn Hundley

They make it to our house. We all go to bed with the intent. Of course, I'm a little irritated by the whole thing too, which, you know, again, in hindsight, you're like. And he did call my niece when they got to my house because, again, they had 360 on there on their phones, which is the tracking app. So he knew that she and my nephew had arrived.

00;13;10;25 - 00;13;30;00

Carolyn Hundley

And I think he even called maybe to say, okay, you're they're kind of love you. And that was it. And so we went to bed that night and I told the kids, I'm like, Well, what time does your bus come? Okay, I'll get you home in time to shower and jump on the bus. And so we were got up early that next morning.

00;13;30;24 - 00;13;55;13

Carolyn Hundley

We are probably 10 minutes out heading towards Nicholas. Phil, we're 10 minutes out and my niece receives a call from the next oldest son. And the call is kind of, Well, where are you headed? What are you doing? Kind of what you doing? And she's basic, really well, and he's bringing me back to the house for us to the house.

00;13;55;13 - 00;14;14;27

Carolyn Hundley

So we get showers and get on the bus and he's like, Why don't you talk to Aunt CC? And so I get the phone and I said, you know, hello? And he said, What do you ask me? It's kind of same question, What are you doing? And I said, Well, you know, I'm headed headed back to Nicholas Ville.

00;14;14;28 - 00;14;35;04

Carolyn Hundley

Drop the kids off so I can get showers, get on the bus and go to school. They got to go to school. And I said, well, where's like Lydia and Ken? And he said, They're gone. And I said, What do you mean? They're gone? I said, I got their kids. What do you mean they're gone? Because I was really aggravated at that point.

00;14;35;04 - 00;14;55;24

Carolyn Hundley

Like how you gone? Yeah, well, where did you even go? Yeah. And he said, No, Caroline. He said, She's dead and he's gone. And I was like, What? And I mean, of course I've got the kids in the car. So it was like, What do you do with that in Vermont? I mean, I was like literally, I was like, panic.

00;14;56;20 - 00;15;14;26

Carolyn Hundley

I was like, I think I was stubborn, really, for a second. Yeah. And I'm like, What are you talking about? What is happening? Like, I'm just and I'm like, What are the police doing where the police? And he's like, I've not called him. I like. And then that, of course, put me over the edge. I'm like, Get off the phone, call the police and I'll be there as soon as I can.

00;15;15;13 - 00;15;32;27

Carolyn Hundley

And so I'm within my car back around. I call my husband, He's like, Get right back here because he's getting ready to take my eight year old to school. So I'm having to call a dear friend to come get him to, of course, you know, so he's with you all so he can he can drive me and the kids.

00;15;34;11 - 00;15;49;01

Carolyn Hundley

And I think the whole while there I had this kind of thought that, okay, great, he shot her. She's fine. Like paramedics are with her. Yeah, we're good to go. Like, I mean, I was I was in trauma, like, it was like.

00;15;49;13 - 00;15;50;02

Wendy Lyons

That little bit of.

00;15;50;02 - 00;15;54;16

Carolyn Hundley

Hope, but the hope. And then when we pulled up and you see the corner vans and did you.

00;15;54;16 - 00;15;56;28

Wendy Lyons

Tell the kids while you were driving? Oh, what's going on?

00;15;56;28 - 00;16;16;09

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah. I mean, they were like, right there through the whole thing. And so and they're such I mean, they're good kids and just awful, so traumatic. But so we get to the house and there's Cheryl, you know, the coroner's there. Three or four cop car are there. We get out, go to the the corner and out comes the.

00;16;18;28 - 00;16;41;17

Carolyn Hundley

It was one of the cops, I think. And I think it was Cassie from Michael's office at the corners, Cassie Robertson, who's gosh, just amazing isn't she. Yep. And Michael's. Yeah but it was I think it was the two of them, a cop. And the first thing they said was the paramedics are with her.

00;16;41;26 - 00;16;42;17

Wendy Lyons

So you're thinking.

00;16;42;26 - 00;16;53;11

Carolyn Hundley

So I'm like, that's, that was my first thought is, Oh, it's okay. And then the next thing out of their mouth is, you know, that your sister's deceased, that she's Pam.

00;16;55;10 - 00;16;58;03

Wendy Lyons

And then the confusion. But the. You said the paramedic is there.

00;16;58;03 - 00;17;24;18

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah. And so it was like those two thing is like, you know, And of course then at that point it was I mean, you can't go in, do anything because it's obviously an active crime scene at that point. And then it is come down to the office and, you know, let's talk through questions. So that's kind of so we ended up at Jasmine Place for a while, probably for a couple of hours actually, where they just walked through questions.

00;17;27;08 - 00;17;49;25

Carolyn Hundley

So basically, you know, the the next oldest son, not the oldest, but the one above my nephew was the one who found her. So they had him in there for questioning as well. And then after our questioning, we were to go and kind of talk with the coroner's office also.

00;17;49;25 - 00;17;55;16

Wendy Lyons

And I'm sure the next older boy, he was probably trying to call his dad. I'm guessing, like, where are you?

00;17;56;14 - 00;18;19;24

Carolyn Hundley

I'm not sure. You know, I don't I mean, he was on the run at that point. So he had they had security cameras in the house. He had crushed those, taken the main box, crushed her phone, left his phone, and he'd gone on the run at that point. And so that was part of the questions was where do we think he will go?

00;18;20;01 - 00;18;43;24

Carolyn Hundley

And actually my niece was just super intuitive. She said the first thing out of her mouth was he'll go to he'll go to Shirley's and so that's in Frankfort. And and he didn't like this cold weather. He won't he won't stay around here. He'll go he'll probably go down south, back to Florida and the lieutenant at the time had asked me, you know, do they have a frequent place they go to?

00;18;43;24 - 00;18;55;08

Carolyn Hundley

And Flora said, well, they've been down there several times. I said, But probably his favorite is Venice Beach. So and that's actually, you know, he was he was found about an hour outside in Lake Wales.

00;18;55;16 - 00;19;05;29

Wendy Lyons

So so at this time when the your niece said Shirley's, I guess did they start people headed towards Cheryl. He's hoping that he's still there.

00;19;05;29 - 00;19;29;04

Carolyn Hundley

Yep. That afternoon they sent by noon they had sent people to Shirley's house and when they got there, Ken had switched trucks. He'd taken the brand new truck, which was a big black Dodge Ram, very, very distinct. And he'd switched that with, I believe she was in a black jeep. Like a little.

00;19;29;11 - 00;19;30;15

David Lyons

Renegade, I think is with.

00;19;30;16 - 00;19;32;03

Carolyn Hundley

Us. Yeah. And so he.

00;19;32;06 - 00;19;33;26

Wendy Lyons

They were driving Shirley's vehicle.

00;19;33;26 - 00;19;52;17

Carolyn Hundley

Yep. And I think he had ditched her cell phone in the yard. I'm not quite clear on that. And then I think he took her. How he took her, I don't know. I don't know if she went of her free will of courting to all the things you see. She didn't, you know. But I think her and her dog went along for this, whatever this was.

00;19;52;17 - 00;20;10;05

Carolyn Hundley

Right. And so, you know, for about you know, that happened on the fourth her death that evening. You know, she was found on the fifth. Right. So then there was all these days of we don't know where this man's at. Yeah.

00;20;10;05 - 00;20;12;25

Wendy Lyons

About how many days are we talking that you. I think it was.

00;20;13;03 - 00;20;24;27

Carolyn Hundley

Four or five sounds. Yeah. Yeah. Season five. I think he died on the night so and she actually physically died on the fourth. So really about five days he had on.

00;20;24;28 - 00;20;28;20

Wendy Lyons

So during this time people are just looking for the man her.

00;20;28;21 - 00;20;32;15

David Lyons

That's right it was all over the news and social media. Yeah the Nicholas.

00;20;32;17 - 00;20;33;01

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah.

00;20;33;08 - 00;20;36;23

Wendy Lyons

I recall seeing news saying if you've seen this person.

00;20;36;23 - 00;21;00;13

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah he was all over the news. Yeah yeah. In fact one of the news folks had reached out from one of the channels and said, Hey, you want to do an interview? And I basically said, You know, no, I said that, you know, the saving grace that I have is, one, we don't know where this man is. He's threatened before to kill the whole family.

00;21;00;14 - 00;21;08;19

Carolyn Hundley

I mean, he's threatened the kids before he's threatened Lydia before I have his children. And I'm not going to do anything to Jeff because.

00;21;08;19 - 00;21;12;02

Wendy Lyons

I imagine you're probably thinking he could show up here to get his kids back.

00;21;12;02 - 00;21;34;07

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, we were on. I mean, my husband is an avid gun collector and an avid hunter, and we were like, I mean, he had us completely, like, on lockdown. And so, I mean, we have security cameras and all the things on the windows and doors and all the stuff. But I mean, we had guns in different places. We had a kind of an exit plan, a safety plan put in place for those days.

00;21;35;01 - 00;21;57;12

Carolyn Hundley

We had courts, we had constant Scott County Sheriff's deputies patrolling our area. And then we had, you know, I, I don't know how much you know, about country neighbors, but they are very protective. And so we had, you know, country neighbors that were constantly checking on us and the phone was just ringing off the hook from people, just making sure, you know, everybody was okay.

00;21;57;13 - 00;22;03;12

Wendy Lyons

Yeah, I can imagine the terror. You must have thought, we're going to go to bed and he's going to bust out one of our windows getting in here.

00;22;03;12 - 00;22;14;02

Carolyn Hundley

Well, and, you know, one of the biggest things for me was has he rethought this? You have my kids now. Yes, right. That was my biggest fear was he was coming over.

00;22;14;03 - 00;22;15;10

Wendy Lyons

Yeah, he's going to get his kids.

00;22;15;10 - 00;22;23;22

Carolyn Hundley

And whatever stands in his way, you know, you go to. Yeah. And I mean and that's that's what we had told everybody, including the kids. I mean, he walks in this door.

00;22;24;05 - 00;22;26;11

Wendy Lyons

Got to shoot him. You got to protect yourselves. Yeah.

00;22;26;29 - 00;22;32;13

Carolyn Hundley

And, you know, I mean, it's just it was a it was a very scary few days.

00;22;32;17 - 00;22;33;18

David Lyons

Yeah, very real.

00;22;33;21 - 00;22;53;21

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, for sure. Well, and there was and then there was that point of, you know, the both my husband and my brother, who's an attorney, and in Louisville both were like, you know, they're either probably going to kill him or he's going to kill himself. One of those two things are going to happen. And, you know, my brother kept going.

00;22;54;07 - 00;23;13;09

Carolyn Hundley

That may be the best, you know, because again, do you want kids reliving all this? Do you need to rehash all this? And what if he gets off with, you know, five years down the road or something? So, yeah, but it was just a sad situation because, again, you know, we were blessed with him sending them to us.

00;23;13;28 - 00;23;20;10

Carolyn Hundley

But now you've got two children who you know, their mother's been murdered, their fathers just shot himself.

00;23;20;19 - 00;23;31;21

Wendy Lyons

Well, so before that, you're all just waiting days thinking, is he going to call to see if the kids are okay? So during so this five days, how do you find out that he had killed himself? How did that even come?

00;23;31;23 - 00;23;46;17

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, we were in court once he crossed state lines and they knew he had cross state lines because they had they once you cross state lines, there was a US marshal, there was a couple of U.S. marshals involved. And that's where all of our communication then went.

00;23;46;23 - 00;23;48;02

Wendy Lyons

So they're looking for him.

00;23;48;02 - 00;24;08;04

Carolyn Hundley

At first it was through the lieutenant and some of the detectives here in Jesmond County. But once you cross state lines, U.S. Marshals were communicating with us on a day. How had they, you know, a couple of days his the truck that they were driving, which I believe was Shirley's truck, was tagged at a couple of different whether it be tolls.

00;24;08;13 - 00;24;08;17

Wendy Lyons

Or.

00;24;08;17 - 00;24;34;13

Carolyn Hundley

Some type of camera footage caught her passing the law because at one point they said he had crossed like the ten either Tennessee or something to that, like he'd already gone through one state. And that's when the US marshal kind of called to introduce himself and say, here's what we're doing, here's what's going on. You know, And we had already I mean, of course we had my niece had already told them, hey, he's probably going to Florida.

00;24;34;13 - 00;24;52;21

Carolyn Hundley

So this was I mean, he was so predictable, which was really strange because if he had any really smarts or wit about him, I mean, he was he was one of those guys that, you know, was a hunter and a fisher and probably could live off the land and go just disappear. But, I mean, he was totally predictable, which was just really odd.

00;24;52;21 - 00;24;55;13

Carolyn Hundley

And I think it was just because he was just losing it. Yeah.

00;24;55;22 - 00;25;04;06

David Lyons

In a lot of times there we always talk about that because one would be like, why do they do that and everything? And I'm like, you know, we've got to hope that they're stupid at some point. I mean.

00;25;04;06 - 00;25;13;12

Carolyn Hundley

Well, and I think that's what it was. Stupid. Yeah. I mean, if he he'd have been smart. I mean you'd gone out to like, Iowa. Yeah, like Colorado. And he was.

00;25;13;12 - 00;25;21;01

David Lyons

He had never gone to see Shirley. I mean if he really. Oh yes, he sure up he left the farm behind, but he would have never started that for stupid.

00;25;21;01 - 00;25;23;12

Wendy Lyons

So he's driving and they're looking just.

00;25;23;14 - 00;25;35;09

Carolyn Hundley

Surreal or they think their communicating with us daily a couple of times during the day. And then on that day that he shot himself, the officer said he is he's committed suicide in.

00;25;35;09 - 00;25;40;11

Wendy Lyons

So tell us how that happened that they approached him or found him for the suicide.

00;25;41;05 - 00;26;09;11

Carolyn Hundley

So from what I understand is, again, a her vehicle was tagged somewhere crossing that Florida line. And so at that point, we got notified that he is in Florida. We know he's in Florida. We now have these local jurisdictions looking for him and I guess a couple of the jurisdictions right outside of Venice, I think an hour maybe north, I'm not real sure, but it's like Lake Wells area had spotted him on the interstate.

00;26;10;05 - 00;26;31;01

Carolyn Hundley

And so they basically did a kind of a quiet follow, I don't know what you call that, but more of there's not a bunch of marked cars watching him like but there are I guess. And so at that point they watched him until they came to their next stop, which was at a gas station. And he got out, pumped gas, took the dog.

00;26;31;02 - 00;26;35;07

Carolyn Hundley

He was actually taking the dog for a walk. Where are letting the dog use that?

00;26;35;07 - 00;26;36;15

Wendy Lyons

And she was in the car and.

00;26;36;15 - 00;26;52;02

Carolyn Hundley

She was in the car, from what we understand. And she was in the car and all was surrounded by multiple police units, guns drawn. And then I think what was said was all you could hear was, no, no, no, no, no. And he shot himself.

00;26;52;13 - 00;26;53;18

Wendy Lyons

At the gas station at.

00;26;53;18 - 00;26;58;02

Carolyn Hundley

The gas station there. So and that's in the news media, too. You see the pictures.

00;26;58;02 - 00;27;02;27

Wendy Lyons

And so what happens with Shirley at that point, I guess they talk with her.

00;27;02;28 - 00;27;11;11

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, they bring her. I think they brought her back. I think they talked to her there. And then I think, you know, they brought her back for more questioning and then I think she was released.

00;27;11;25 - 00;27;12;24

David Lyons

Sure. Sure.

00;27;14;04 - 00;27;15;14

Carolyn Hundley

Well, yeah.

00;27;15;28 - 00;27;25;25

Wendy Lyons

So then I guess what happened with him? They did they leave him in like well's Florida or did he come back here? Did the kids have a funeral for him?

00;27;25;25 - 00;27;37;13

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah. So the older boys brought him back to Jasmine County and had him cremated and had a service for him.

00;27;38;19 - 00;27;40;12

Wendy Lyons

Did the younger two children go to that?

00;27;40;12 - 00;27;47;11

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah. I mean, you know, we asked them if they you know, of course, I mean, this is a real tough situation. What do you do here? Yeah, you know, it's.

00;27;47;26 - 00;27;49;17

Wendy Lyons

They he killed their mom.

00;27;49;17 - 00;27;50;11

Carolyn Hundley

But he's still their dad.

00;27;50;11 - 00;27;50;25

Wendy Lyons

But he's.

00;27;50;25 - 00;28;02;04

David Lyons

Yes, that's to me, that's been of all these things in cases like this. That's part of the evil construct of it. Yeah. This is not just one thing. Like I said earlier, the ripple effects are incredible.

00;28;02;04 - 00;28;17;21

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, well, in any time you talk, I mean, you know, I. Of course, I had my own trauma counseling there for a little while, right after all of this. And, you know, one of the things I think that stuck out stood out when she you know, it's it's, you know, especially children, too, Right? Doesn't matter what age you are.

00;28;17;21 - 00;28;36;11

Carolyn Hundley

You kind of compartmentalize right here. Yes. Here's the daddy piece of it. And here's the piece that you murdered my mom. Yeah. You know, and so it's that's that's tough. And, you know, obviously, it's tough all the way around. You know, I had said to them, whatever you decide to do, I'm okay with, you know, whatever you need to do.

00;28;36;11 - 00;28;47;23

Carolyn Hundley

I said, we won't be going. But, you know, so I had two of our very best friends, took them to the service. They just sat in the back and let them attend the service.

00;28;47;29 - 00;28;51;13

David Lyons

Yeah, they've got years. The rest of their lives that they have to piece this together.

00;28;51;13 - 00;29;14;00

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah. So, you know, I always tell a story because the day before I was like, God, just give me a sign that this is okay. And you know what you hear about red cardinals? Yeah, well, these red cardinals are now in the bush. And I'm like, okay, well, there it is. And so then the next day, his service was due to start off, I think, five or 6:00.

00;29;14;00 - 00;29;33;23

Carolyn Hundley

And I was getting off right at that same time. And I was walking downstairs to leave and one of my girlfriends from work, you know, she came up to me, she goes, Oh my gosh, Carolyn, I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to attend Lydia's service. Now, this is like right at the same time that his service is getting ready to start, he's like, she's like, I'm sorry I didn't get to attend Lydia's service.

00;29;33;29 - 00;29;40;24

Carolyn Hundley

She said, but a party, a little something, and I wanted to give it to you. And so it's this little box, and it is this little cardinal bracelet.

00;29;41;06 - 00;29;42;08

David Lyons

Oh, how beautiful.

00;29;43;00 - 00;30;02;06

Carolyn Hundley

And I just lost it. And I mean, I couldn't even talk to her. I couldn't even tell her why I was losing it, because I literally just lost it. I was like, oh, my gosh, that's insane. You know? And, you know, I think that later that night or the next morning, I texted her and I said, let me explain why that was so emotional and meant so much.

00;30;02;11 - 00;30;12;12

Carolyn Hundley

But, you know, it was like one of those things that you're just like, okay, that's kind of creepy, But a good sign. You know, I think it was just one of those things to say, It's okay, it's going to be okay. I got through it.

00;30;12;22 - 00;30;17;22

Wendy Lyons

So so did the two younger children have contact with the two older children still?

00;30;17;22 - 00;30;45;20

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, not as you know, I think before Ken's death, his oldest son and he were a little bit estranged, so they hadn't spoken for a couple of years like the kids had been a part of their lives because Ken was mad at him. Ken was so mad at him that, you know, I think at Christmas, I believe it was at Christmas, he even told my husband, I'm going to kill like I'd just kill him or something like that.

00;30;45;20 - 00;31;09;00

Carolyn Hundley

Talking about his oldest son and Daryl was like, Buddy, that's your son. I mean, you got to you got to get past like, that's that's your son. And so and then I think even the weekend before Lydia died, they were in bath and body and the oldest. And I think his family may have been there, too, but I was there.

00;31;09;00 - 00;31;28;00

Carolyn Hundley

And I think Ken and him had words to the point that Ken was almost like, I'm going to shoot you right here. So like, I just like to draw his gun or something, you know, because he always packed, carried and and I think, you know, because his older son is a big guy and I think his older son, you know, hey, you do that.

00;31;28;00 - 00;31;45;07

Carolyn Hundley

And I'm like, you eat it kind of thing. But it and it was to the point, I think they were going to press charges even on him. Wow. But I don't think that happened because of everything else that, you know, again, all that happened right around the same time. So. But yeah.

00;31;47;01 - 00;31;49;25

Wendy Lyons

Wow, that is crazy.

00;31;50;09 - 00;31;53;18

David Lyons

It's a lot. But thank you for being so articulate with.

00;31;53;18 - 00;31;54;10

Wendy Lyons

Yes.

00;31;54;16 - 00;31;57;09

David Lyons

It's got to be tough to talk about. So thanks again. Yeah.

00;31;57;18 - 00;32;01;24

Wendy Lyons

Well, what has life been like since then? You have world children?

00;32;01;24 - 00;32;03;04

Carolyn Hundley

Yep, we have the children.

00;32;03;04 - 00;32;11;07

Wendy Lyons

And do you do you all do you do the children get to go see Lydia's grave or did you all have her cremated? Is she with you?

00;32;11;07 - 00;32;41;04

Carolyn Hundley

We. We actually had her buried in the little town that we live in, right in Northern Scott County. And we actually drive by her. You can see her grave every day. We drive by. So we wanted her close. Yeah. So we buried her close and, you know, just did a really nice headstone and stuff with a picture of her on it and we always try to be out there holiday ish and put some little holly because she would want that little creativity on her grave.

00;32;42;05 - 00;32;51;21

Carolyn Hundley

And so and we've got some lights set up. So at night you can kind of see it's a little more distinct than most of the others. So, yeah, she's real close. She's less than 5 minutes from us.

00;32;51;21 - 00;32;53;15

Wendy Lyons

Wow. So the children can go.

00;32;53;15 - 00;32;53;27

Carolyn Hundley

Oh, yeah.

00;32;53;29 - 00;32;56;08

Wendy Lyons

Who took Ken's ashes?

00;32;57;08 - 00;33;00;15

Carolyn Hundley

I think so. Assuming his kids. We don't know anything about that.

00;33;00;28 - 00;33;05;24

Wendy Lyons

Wow. Did the children talk much about it, or is it kind of just not talked about?

00;33;06;03 - 00;33;23;11

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, I mean, we talk about we we try to always keep Lydia in the forefront of our memories. And, you know, while momma did this or, you know, I'll say or I mean, we were just we were in a ball game and there's this bumblebee what looks like a bumblebee. It's actually it would be, but it's like right at my head.

00;33;23;11 - 00;33;41;01

Carolyn Hundley

It won't. And then it comes over to my nephew's head and I'm like, well, there's momma, She's not going to leave us alone tonight, you know? So we're always trying to keep her memory alive and and trying to do things in memory of her and just kind of keep keep her memories alive because, I mean, you know, she's a great person.

00;33;41;15 - 00;33;43;12

David Lyons

It sounds like it sounds like a.

00;33;43;12 - 00;33;57;00

Carolyn Hundley

Tragic I think she was just in a tough situation. Yeah, for sure. And I think just, you know, part of it is, I think the communication and what to do when to do it. I think we were you know, it's just it's like too late, you know. Yeah.

00;33;57;00 - 00;34;23;08

Wendy Lyons

And I think like I say in that video, I'd ask you if you'd seen we did a YouTube promotional a year after Angie's death where we went to the cemetery. And in that video I say, and it's actually playing right now, I say on there, when those victims utter those words, it's over. I'm done. That is the most deadly time for them.

00;34;23;08 - 00;34;23;18

Carolyn Hundley

It is.

00;34;24;01 - 00;34;35;10

Wendy Lyons

And I can't imagine being in that position they're in. You don't know whether you should sneak out while they're at work. Do you face the beast and say, I'm done, You're not going to do this anymore?

00;34;35;11 - 00;34;35;21

Carolyn Hundley

Yep.

00;34;36;01 - 00;34;59;19

Wendy Lyons

Because they work up that courage and then that ends up being the death of them. And then you can only imagine what those last seconds were like. Did they realize this is getting ready to happen? Or was she like, I can imagine and this is only my imagination. I can imagine Angie was probably being pretty mouthy there at the very end because she was always, I think, pretty mouthy.

00;35;00;04 - 00;35;18;23

Wendy Lyons

I think she said, get your crap and get out. And he went back to get his crap and that's when he came back with a gun. Yeah, that's you know, that's how I feel. And I just wonder if Lydia was the same. This is it. I'm done. You've sent my kids. Let's get to the bottom of this now.

00;35;18;23 - 00;35;19;19

Wendy Lyons

My kids aren't here.

00;35;19;19 - 00;35;40;11

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, well, and I think. I think she was at that moment. I think the arguments were starting to like she wasn't an arguer up until that point. Up until those last few weeks. I mean, she never mouthed back at him. I mean, she did there at at Thanksgiving. And so I feel like that just got that momentum with her, got even more of being.

00;35;41;01 - 00;35;55;00

Carolyn Hundley

And I'm out, I'm getting out. I'm out of this. Like I mean, we'd even told her she could come live with us. But I mean, one of the things that we we said is, I mean, I even told her I'm like, Daryl won't put up with him. Like, you've got to be done. If you're done, you can come here.

00;35;55;06 - 00;35;57;11

Carolyn Hundley

But if you're not done, we're not going to put up with him.

00;35;57;21 - 00;35;58;21

Wendy Lyons

Coming to visit.

00;35;58;22 - 00;36;18;02

Carolyn Hundley

No, that's not going to happen. And her thing was she wanted to do it her way. You know, she wasn't doing her time her way. And, you know, I think there at the end, I mean, you know, based on the autopsy and, you know, I think at first, you know, the coroner had thought that she was shot from behind.

00;36;18;15 - 00;36;33;08

Carolyn Hundley

And I think that was one of our things for me anyways. It was like my saving grace going, oh, she never knew this was coming. Like he just came from behind and killed her. So that was one of those things that kind of it's awful to say that that gave me comfort, but they gave me.

00;36;33;08 - 00;36;34;21

Wendy Lyons

You were the know. At least she didn't.

00;36;34;24 - 00;37;01;13

Carolyn Hundley

Yeah, and but that's not ultimately what happened. And, you know, when Michael, the coroner's office took her body to Frankfort and Cassie stayed with her the whole time, and they did the the actual autopsy to really find out there was a lot of questions that day. There was a Pandora ring box and a Pandora bag, no ring found.

00;37;02;25 - 00;37;20;04

Carolyn Hundley

And that was supposedly the ring that he wanted to marry her with kind of thing. And Cassie kept asking me from the coroner's office. She kept asking me, you know, Carolyn, you know anything about the fingers and her ring fingers and things like that. And I kept going, Now, what do you mean? And she's like, Well, her fingers were broken.

00;37;22;06 - 00;37;44;14

Wendy Lyons

If you you're a victim of domestic violence or partner violence, please call your local police department or the National Domestic Violence hotline at one 800 7997233. You are not alone. There are resources available to help you and your family. Hey, you know, there's more to the story, so go download the next episode. Like the true crime fan that you are.

00;37;46;06 - 00;38;19;04

David Lyons

The Murder Police podcast is hosted by Wendy and David Lyons and was created to honor the lives crime victims so their names are never forgotten. It is produced, recorded and edited by David Lyons. The Murder Police podcast can be found on your favorite Apple or Android podcast platform, as well as at Murder Police podcast sitcom, where you will find show notes, transcripts, information about our presenters and a link to the official Murder Police Podcast merch store where you can purchase a huge variety of murder police podcast swag.

00;38;19;17 - 00;38;43;06

David Lyons

We are also on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, which is closed captioned For those that are hearing impaired, just search for the Murder Police podcast and you will find us if you have enjoyed this podcast. Please subscribe for more and give us five stars and a written review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you download your podcasts, make sure you set your player to automatically download new episodes so you get the new ones as soon as they drop.

00;38;43;18 - 00;38;46;29

David Lyons

And please tell your friends lockdown duty.