On Monday in St. Charles County court, the long-awaited Shawn Kavanagh trial finally got underway with the defense and prosecution presenting their cases.
Inside the House, the bodies of Tara Fifer and Lexy Vandiver were found. Powell was found with several stab wounds and transported to a hospital where he would undergo life-saving surgery.
Mason Vandiver, a first-grader from Warrior Ridge Elementary School, was transported right away to a hospital in St. Louis to receive treatment for several serious wounds, but he lost away that evening.
Only Lexy Vandiver’s 18-month-old kid was unharmed in the attack.
Update on the Shawn Kavanagh Trial: His Charges
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Kavanagh’s trial finally started on Monday in St. Charles County court after numerous delays. The death penalty is being requested by attorneys. His defense attorneys are requesting that the charge be dropped.
Audio tapes of Kavanagh’s police confessions and testimony from his ex-wife, Jessica Powell, who was hurt the night of the crimes but survived, were played at the start of the trial.
Kavanaugh is accused of three murders in the first degree. Kavanaugh is accountable for the killings, but his defense team argues that because the deaths weren’t intentional, he should only be charged with second-degree murder.
The trial, which will now commence on Monday, won’t have a jury. Kavanagh chose not to use a jury last month and is now asking for a “bench trial,” in which the judge will make all judgments.
Case of the deaths of Mason Vandiver, Lexy, and Tara Lynn Fifer
On February 14, 2014, Bellflower resident Shawn Kavanagh was taken into custody and accused of murdering Tara Lynn Fifer, Lexy Vandiver, and Mason Vandiver. He was also accused of leaving Jessica N. Powell with life-threatening injuries at a home in Warren County, south of Jonesburg.
Jessica Powell, Kavanagh’s estranged wife, and her two children were staying at the house south of Jonesburg at the time of the alleged crimes, along with Lexy Vandiver, a coworker. Tara Fifer, another coworker, visited just before Kavanagh arrived. The three women worked together on tasks at the New Florence Care Center.
Around 7:45 p.m., Powell was the reason Kavanagh went to the House. After being ordered to leave, he allegedly took a knife from his car and stabbed the occupants of the House.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Department reports that Kavanagh called 911 at 7:51 pm and claimed to have just stabbed and killed several people. When deputies arrived, Kavanagh was covered in blood and reportedly verbally acknowledged to killing the House’s occupants.
Why Did The Trail Take So Long?
The COVID epidemic caused multiple delays in the trial.
The trial was planned to take place at the St. Charles County Court, but it was uncertain if a jury pool could be safely assembled there. But even before that, Kavanagh’s public defenders experienced numerous delays as a result of changes in legal counsel, medical concerns, and other peculiar situations.
The attorneys involved in the case include Associate Attorney General Kevin Zoellner and Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Kelly King. For more than six years, the prosecutors have pushed Kavanagh toward a trial.
Kavanagh is being defended by lawyers from the branch of the Missouri Public Defender System that specializes in matters involving the death sentence.
