CALHOUN, MICHIGAN: Chad Allen Reed, a 56-year-old man, has been pronounced guilty by the jury for killing a tenant couple at his Michigan home in 2020.
Reed is set for sentencing in circuit court on November 30. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
As per Calhoun County prosecutor David Gilbert, Reed has been found guilty of first-degree murder of Jaclyn Lepird and her boyfriend Joseph Soule, for which he faces second-degree murder, as per Law and Crime.
Chad Allen Reed told police that he acted in self-defense when he killed Joseph Soule
Soule was shot dead by Reed who told police that he acted in self-defense after the former threatened him with a knife.
Reed also confessed to pursuing Lepird who witnessed her boyfriend’s killing and ran away. Reed caught up with her after firing at least one shot and captured her.
After Lepird was cornered in the backyard, Reed beat her and strangled her until she died.
Allen has reportedly confessed to the crime after calling the police tip line days after police checked his home.
Where did Chad Allen Reed hide Jaclyn Lepird and her boyfriend Joseph Soule's bodies after killing them?
Reed, according to prosecutors, wrapped the two bodies in a clear plastic and put them in his truck. He then covered them with a tarp, debris, and large boards. Later, Reed left the truck at an empty garage near his house.
In October 2020, friends and family of the victims started to have concerns about not hearing from Soule or Lepird for several days.
A family member reported the couple missing and one of the relatives who went to Reed's house was heard saying in a dashcam video, "But I haven’t heard from them. Nobody’s been able to reach them. They haven’t answered me or any of messages for a couple days."
To cover up his crime, Reed also tried to burn down the house five times where he killed the couple.
His lawyer Susan Mladenoff said Reed acted in self-defense arguing that Leprid had a "bad temper" and that he and Soule struggled with drugs.
He said mental health was the cause, that they fought daily, and that there were “rumors of flirting and cheating and that no one was immune from their rage.”
The victims were both Covid-positive when they were killed
Medical examiners, who testified on the last day of the trial according to WOTV, said Soule and Lepird both had cocaine and alcohol in their bodies.
They also tested positive for Covid-19 but the examiner said this was not the cause of their death.
Medical examiners also told the jury that Soule had been dead at least a day or more prior to his body being found. He was in a “moderate state of decomposition,” an examiner said.
Chad Allen Reed tried to clean the crime scene, said detectives
Besides the mysterious fire, Battle Creek police sergeant Trevor Hoard testified that 911 dispatchers received a call while Soule and Lepird were still considered missing.
The call stated that Reed “may have been cleaning out their apartment, especially the second floor where the couple lived, with Clorox or bleach,” he said.
Detectives found traces of blood on the kitchen floor. A relative of one of the victims said he noticed some floorboards near the garbage outside the house when he came to check on the couple.
